Kaito and Aoko's Story
by Bellerophone
Summary: It's two years after Shinichi got his body back and took down the Black Org-or at least, his branch of the Org. Snake, the Kaitou Kid's archenemy, is still at large, which means 20-year-old Kaito is still KID. But something's gotta give sooner or later..
1. Kiss and Makeup

Chapter 1: Kiss and Makeup

_Ding-dong!_

Twenty-year-old bachelor Kuroba Kaito extracted himself with difficulty from the folds of the dress on his bed. "Was that the doorbell?"

The girl beside him, looking slightly grumpy at the interruption, shrugged, her tousled dark hair spilling over her shoulders.

_ Ding-dong!_

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Kaito leapt off the bed and hastily pulled on his discarded jeans "Who visits at ten o'clock at night?" he groused, wiping the lipstick from his mouth with the back of his hand.

He flung open the bedroom door and stalked out. "Hurry back!" the girl called teasingly as he closed the door firmly behind him, then strode to the front door, buttoning up his shirt as he went.

_Ding-dong!_

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Kaito opened the front door.

Hattori Heiji stood just outside his apartment. "Hey, Kuroba," he grinned. "You busy?"

"Uh…"

"That's good," Heiji said cheerfully, stepping into the small foyer. "Mind if I spend the night?"

"Yes," Kaito said flatly, one eyebrow raised. He kept the door open. "What's wrong with your college dorm?"

"Kazuha an' I had a fight."

"What else is new?"

"We had a _big_ fight," Heiji elaborated, glaring at Kaito. "I decided I don't want to be around tonight."

"Kazuha-chan doesn't live in your building; she and Ran-chan live in the dorm next to yours—"

"Yeah, but when that girl gets angry, you gotta put a lot of distance between you and her."

"Couldn't you just lock your dorm room to keep her out?"

"Nah," Heiji sat down on the couch and crossed his arms. "Kudou's my roommate."

"Yes, and?"

"An' he an' I're fightin' too."

Kaito sighed. "What about Okita Soushi's place?"  
"He's abroad for a kendo tournament."

"Your parents' house?"

"It's kinda far from Tokyo. And I had a fight with my dad."

"Good lord, Hattori, has anyone told you your relationships need work?"

"A few people," Heiji confessed sheepishly, then stood up and grinned. "C'mon, Kuroba, just let me stay tonight, I won't—" he suddenly broke off, and bent down to peer closely at Kaito's face. "Hey, is that lipstick?"  
"Uh…" Kaito wiped at his mouth again. "…No…Hey, come back! Hattori!"

Heiji had already set off into the apartment. "What're you—"

"NO!" cried Kaito as Heiji flung open the bedroom door.

"Hi, Hattori-kun!" said Aoko.

She sat on the small bed in the room, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, a bag of cosmetics open across her knees. A dress lay spread on the covers next to her. "I'd get up, but I'm waiting for my toenails to dry!"

Heiji stared from Aoko's cherry-red toes to Kaito's cherry-red face.

"I can explain—" Kaito began.

"I think we need to talk." Heiji closed the door on Aoko, seized Kaito by the collar of his still-half-buttoned shirt, and dragged him back into the foyer.

"Hattori!" Kaito hissed, trying to wrench himself free from the taller boy's grasp. "What's wrong with you—?"

"What's wrong with _me_?" Heiji rounded on Kaito, his face flushed with anger but his eyebrows cocked as if quizzically. "What the _hell_, Kuroba! There's a Kaitou Kid heist tonight!"

"Not this again!" Kaito scoffed. He jerked his shirt out of Heiji's grasp and straightened his collar with an air of wounded pride. "Would you stop with your stupid conspiracy theories? I already told you, I'm not the Kid—"

"Yeah, yeah," Heiji waved his hand dismissively. "I already told ya, I don't care what you say. An' no, I don't have any evidence yet. Doesn't change the truth. But I can't believe you're bein' so stupid as to have Aoko over the night of—" He froze suddenly. Then his face lit up in an enormous grin. "Oh-h-h-h." He narrowed his eyes. "She knows you're the Kaitou Kid too, doesn't she?"

Kaito coughed. "What are you—"

"Wow." Heiji smirked at Kaito appraisingly. "I'm impressed. Hey, I'm impressed that yer still alive. Did you tell her or did she figure it out?"

"Hattori, would you get out of my apartment, please?"

"Ah, come on, Kuroba! You know, if she figured it out on her own you're just as gutless as me an' Kudou—but if you actually told her yourself, you've got more balls than—"

"—Oh my God—"

"So is it official?" He shouldered Kaito and waggled his eyebrows. "Are you an' Aoko-chan a couple?"

"Yes!" Kaito snapped.

Heiji let out a low whistle.

"Stop staring, okay?" Kaito frowned. "I started feeling…Look, you and Kazuha-chan are together now…Kudou and Ran-chan are practically married…Hakuba Saguru's got a girlfriend too."

"Hakuba?" Heiji raised an eyebrow.

Kaito laughed briefly. "Yeah, over in England."

Heiji made a face. "Thought you said he liked that creepy girl from high school."

"God forbid!" Kaito shuddered. "But if you ask me, this Morgan girl of his sounds equally creepy. But like likes like, I guess."

"I don't like that guy." Heiji gave an aggrieved sigh, then shook his head and smiled wryly. "I still can't believe Aoko-chan didn't beat ya to a pulp."

"I'm not even going to bother arguing with you anymore," Kaito sighed. "You are an insufferable busybody, Hattori."

"Kaito? Hattori-kun!" Aoko called from through the closed bedroom door. "What's going on?"

"Coming, Aoko!" Kaito shouted back. He looked askance at Heiji. "Look, would letting you stay the night convince you that I'm not the Kid?"

"Not likely," Heiji smirked.

"Aw, c'mon, Hattori! I'd have to be crazy to go on a heist with a famous detective staying over at my apartment!"

"Evidence already suggests that both you and the Kaitou Kid are crazy," Heiji said. "—B-but if you let me crash here, then sure! I won't say another word about it." He was already heading back into the bedroom. "Heya, Aoko-chan! Sorry for the intrusion!"

"That's okay!" Aoko said cheerily, giving Kaito a swift, significant look which he ignored by stripping off his jeans. "Want me to paint your toenails?" She wiggled her toes at Heiji.

"Uh…" Heiji glanced over his shoulder at a sweetly smirking Kaito folding his jeans. "That's okay, Aoko-chan…_Kuroba, did you shave your legs?_"

Kaito glanced down at his shins. "Ah...Yes."

"What the—"

"It's for my performance tonight!" Kaito snapped. "I'm cross-dressing as part of my act, and Aoko's helping me get ready." He grinned abruptly. "I'm going to be my own lovely assistant."

"Performance, huh?" Heiji said, absently picking up and touching everything on the dresser.

"Magicians are allowed to disguise themselves every once in a while, Hattori," Kaito said, blithely unbuttoning his shirt. "Nothing culpable about that."

He and Aoko exchanged glances, he smiling, her faintly frowning.

"Oi, Kuroba!" Heiji interjected from the other side of the room. "Does Aoko-chan live with you?"

Kaito and Aoko both turned instantly bright crimson. "No!"

Heiji opened the closet door for them to see. "Then what's with all this girls' clothing?"

"I just said. Costumes," said Kaito, now down to his boxers and a tee-shirt.

"Oh-h-h-h…." Heiji tugged open a drawer with his finger. "So does Aoko-chan know you have ladies' panties in here?"

The furious outburst Heiji had been expecting never came. Instead, Aoko said defensively, "I bought those for him!"

Heiji hadn't been expecting that. "Excuse me?"

"He's a perfectionist!" Aoko explained, hands on her hips. "What would happen if men's underwear came poking out the top of a skirt?"

Kaito's face was scarlet. "Thanks for painting that picture, Aoko," he muttered.

"Oh, come on, that's exactly how you explained it to me," Aoko said briskly, grabbing Kaito's hand and beginning to paint his nails pink.

"You forgot buffing crème," Kaito mumbled.

"Oh, yeah!" Aoko beamed, seemingly unaware of the way Heiji's jaw was swinging off its hinges. She rubbed the back of Kaito's hand against her cheek. "Kaito's got such delicate hands, when you put the right lotions on he could pass for a woman!"

"How—how interesting…" Heiji stammered. "Uh…I'm gonna go see what's in the fridge."

"Make yourself at home," Kaito groused.

When the door to the bedroom closed behind Heiji, Kaito sighed. "Well, that was awkward."

Aoko giggled. "Oh, it was funny." She grew serious as she peered over his hand to start painting the nails. "Why hasn't he busted you if he's so sure you're Kid?"

"Eh..." Kaito shrugged as he watched her work. "He knew me first as Kuroba Kaito, whose dad was murdered by the same guys that shrunk Kudou a few years ago. I met him doing research on the Black Organization—that was a few weeks after Kudou got his body back and brought down that branch of the Black Organization, so everyone was really happy and friendly. It was only after we'd hung out a few times that he started to suspect I was Kid, so he knows I'm not a bad guy. I guess as long as I return the stuff I steal and don't hurt anybody he's not too worried." He grinned. "And I think Hattori likes being in the know about these kinds of things."

"Hmph," Aoko said mock-sulkily. "As long as you didn't tell him before you told me."

"I didn't tell that guy anything," Kaito insisted. "I've still got plausible deniability with him. You were the first person I told. And the only person. But you know," he added with a grin, "it would probably have been easier to confide in Hattori than you."  
"What?" Aoko cried.

"Yeah," Kaito grinned. "You hit a lot harder than he does."

Aoko blushed humbly. "Harder than Hattori-kun?"

"Hell, yeah," Kaito said fervently. With a wink, he Aoko's chin in his unpainted hand and pulling her in for a kiss.

Aoko giggled when they broke apart. "You got lipstick on me!"

"Sorry," Kaito laughed, sheepishly running a hand through his tousled hair.

From outside the door, Heiji, who had been about to reenter with a carton of ice cream, decided he'd be better off on the foyer couch with a beer. Hopefully there was a baseball game on TV.

_**Next Chapter: "Later That Night"_

_A/N:_

_**Gasp! Aoko knows! And Heiji suspects! And Shinichi's apparently big again! Just how do Heiji and Kaito know each other, anyway? Does this plot make any sense? …Well I promise it will soon! I have this entire story already planned out—it'll have 27 chapters, plus bonus chapters, and over half of them are already written. So I'm going to try to update every Wednesday before noon, starting this Wednesday. I can promise a conclusion to Kaito's story, so please bear with me!**_


	2. Later That Night

Chapter 2: Later That Night

Kaito returned home at three in the morning; over his smooth legs and painted fingernails he had donned a skirt, blouse, wig and padded bra, and pranced home unscathed while the rest of the city searched frantically for the _male_ Kaitou Kid.

He delicately unlocked the front door to his apartment, sensitive to the sleeping Heiji inside, but upon entering saw with an unexpected jolt of shock that it was Aoko curled up on the couch, her dark hair shining and her pale face silvery in the moonlight, her body small and supple beneath her tight jeans and cavernous sweatshirt.

Heat creeping into his face under the woman's mask, Kaito tiptoed past her and into the bathroom for a shower.

Once safely garbed in manly pajama bottoms that covered his smooth legs and an old "Kaitou Kid Stole My Heart" fan tee-shirt, his fingernails scrubbed and scraped clean of paint and sparkles, and his hair free of wig and gel and sticking straight up once more, Kaito crept up to Aoko and knelt by her head.

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

No response.

Kaito reached out reluctantly and touched her shoulder. "Aoko. Wake up."

She opened one eye and peered blearily at him. "You're a guy again."

Kaito sighed. "Yup. I'm a guy again."

Aoko sat up slowly, a bemused smile blossoming all over her semiconscious face. "Want me to help you get the nail polish off?"

"Nah, I got it," Kaito couldn't help but grin up at her. "Took me half the bottle of remover, but I got it. What are you still doing here, anyway?"

"Kaito!" Aoko whined over him. "You wasted half my bottle—you inconsiderate cross-dressing jerk…" She trailed off as Kaito chuckled and stuck his tongue out at her, her expression now entirely alert and her eyes on his.

"Was it Pandora?" she whispered.

She knew the answer even before Kaito opened his mouth.

"No."

"And—were any of _them_—"

"Not a sign."

Aoko breathed out, a mix of relief and sorrow on her face. She looked down at the twenty-year-old boy kneeling before her. "I'm sorry, Kaito."

He shook his head. "Don't," he said firmly. "It's not your fault." The hard lines of his face made it clear whose fault it was. Then Kaito sighed gustily, his head drooping.

Either Kaito dropped his head right into Aoko's lap or Aoko pulled him down, neither could tell. But Kaito's cheek was resting on Aoko's knees like it was the most natural position in the world, and her hands were gently combing through his tousled, damp hair.

"One more night for the Kid," Kaito said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"One more night for both of us," Aoko corrected, half-smiling, half-grimacing.

They fell silent in the semi-complacency that came of not speaking about what Kaito called "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" and what Aoko called "the police and…_them_."

Aoko sighed. "It's been a long time."

Kaito hugged her legs tighter and nuzzled her knee. "It's not so bad."

Aoko grinned mock-smugly. "Maybe you should have told me earlier."

"Told you—what?" Kaito said, his face buried in her knees.

"That you're the Kid!" She swatted his head. "Duh!"  
"Oh." She couldn't see his face, but his ears were suddenly rather red in the moonlight. "I thought you meant tell you that I liked you."

"Oh," Aoko said. She smiled. "Well, you might have mentioned that a little bit earlier, too." She stroked his hair again. "When did start liking me, by the way?"

"I always knew I liked you," Kaito said dismissively. "It was always you. Pretty much from the beginning." He lifted his head and shot her a stern glance. "You have no idea how maddening it was to listen to you talk about other boys in high school."

"Oh," Aoko blushed. "Sorry." Then she gasped. "That's why you were always pulling pranks on the guys I liked!"

"Yup," Kaito said proudly, laying his head back on her knees.

"Kaitooo!" Aoko cried. "That was so embarrassing! Why couldn't you have just asked me out like a normal person?"

"I dunno," he said; a faint blush slid across his cheeks and Aoko grinned—but Kaito continued, "And then when I started being the Kid I definitely couldn't. I had to pretend that we were 'just friends' in case anyone ever figured out my identity and tried to use you against me."

"You got really distant then," Aoko agreed.

"It wasn't easy, you know," Kaito said, mock-complainingly. "And then when that flirty British bastard showed up I couldn't just sit there and watch."

"Saguru-kun?" Aoko said bemusedly. "Oh, I guess he was pretty nice to me—well, he talked to me, which is more than he did for most of the rest of the class."

"He asked you out to that stupid concert, remember?" Kaito growled.

"Right..." Aoko grinned. "And you made a bet with him over the tickets! If Kid pulled off his heist that night, you'd go with me, and if Saguru-kun stopped him, he'd go." She laughed. "I think he suspected you were Kid, and he deduced your crush, and just did that to make you mad."  
Kaito snorted. "Anyway, don't you remember Kid announcing that night that the heist had special meaning for him?"  
Aoko smiled and blushed. "Yeah."

"Yeah," Kaito said irritably.

Aoko flicked his ear. "You're so funny."

"Well, I wasn't about to let you go on a date with some other guy. Not to mention—" he gave an exaggerated shudder, "a _detective_."

"Heaven forbid," Aoko laughed, tugging on Kaito's hair.

He snickered. "Anyway, when did you?"

"What? Realize I liked you?"

"When did you come to your senses, and realize that I was the only man for you?"

She giggled. "Actually, I didn't even think of you as a 'man' for the longest time."

Kaito lifted his head anxiously. "What?" He lifted his leg and pulled back his pajama pant leg to reveal his shiny shins. "Is it because I shave? Or maybe the makeup? I can change, Aoko, I can—"

"Oh, shut up!" she giggled. "No, no—although the shaving is a little weird—but it's just...You weren't a 'boy,' you were Kaito, my friend."

Kaito gave an exaggerated wince. "Oh. The dreaded 'friend zone.'"

"Yeah," Aoko said thoughtfully. "In fact, I think I realized..." She frowned thoughtfully, then gasped. "Oh, no."

"What?" Kaito urged. He planted his elbows on her knees and peered up at her face. "What, what?"  
"Oh, this is too embarrassing."

"Aoko," he said firmly. "Tell me."

She made a disgusted noise. "I think the reason I realized I liked you... was...the ... Kid..."

Kaito stared. A slow grin spread across his face. "Whaaaat?"

"I was jealous!" she exploded. "All of a sudden, you get more _distant_ and you start constantly talking about this _Kaitou Kid_, like you want to _marry_ him or something—you started being even more of a jerk to me—I actually did start to wonder if you were gay—oh, the Kid has always been ruining my life, right from the start! Stop laughing!"

"Sorry!" Kaito gasped, clutching his sides. "That's just too perfect—" He wiped a tear from his eye. "Ah...The Kid's been in both of our ways all this time, hasn't he?"  
"Talk about a cock-block," Aoko smirked.

Kaito gasped sanctimoniously. "Nakamori-san! I see you've inherited your father's mouth!"

Aoko giggled. After another moment of scandalized outrage, Kaito joined her.

"Tell you what," he said when their laughter had subsided. He crossed his arms and settled them back on Aoko's knees. "How about I give you the Kaitou Kid?"  
"What?"

"I'll give you the identity of the Kaitou Kid. He's yours. I'll wear the suit only with your permission."  
Aoko raised her eyebrows. "You're only saying that because you know I'll always give you permission, because I know how important it is to find the men who killed your father."

"Yeah, I am," Kaito grinned. "So whaddya say?"

Aoko pretended to consider it. "The Kaitou Kid...mine?" She tugged on Kaito's hair. "Well...you do owe me...for my seventeenth birthday, remember?"

"What?" Kaito said with mock-outrage. "I gave you a city-wide light show!"

Aoko pretended to sniff disdainfully. "It wasn't what I wanted."

"Wasn't what you wanted—" Kaito scoffed. "Well then." He stood up and leaped into Aoko's lap; she cried out in shock but he threw his arms around her neck so she was holding him bridal-style. "What you wanted was the Kaitou Kid."

Aoko smirked up at him, her nose touching his. "I wanted the Kaitou Kid," she agreed.

Kaito grinned. He brushed her cheek with his fingers and tilted her chin up to kiss her—but Aoko suddenly cocked her head to the side. "Oh—are you leaving, Heiji-kun?"  
Kaito nearly jumped out of his skin. "_Wha—_" he gasped, scrambling to sit up, but Aoko laughed and grabbed him.

"Just kidding, stupid! Kazuha-chan called. He talked to her outside for a little while, then came in to say he was going back to campus. That's when I decided to wait up for you."

Kaito clasped a hand to his chest. "Good lord, woman. You scared me!"

Aoko batted her eyelashes innocently. "Who, me?"

"You—" Aoko shrieked with laughter as Kaito wrestled her into a headlock. "You—"

"What?" Aoko challenged between gasps of mirth, writhing in a way that made heat rise to Kaito's face. "I'm a what? You've got nothing on me, thief!"

"Oh, yeah?" Kaito pushed her over so they both fell sideways on the couch, then rolled on top of her. "Still got nothing on you?"

Aoko batted at his head. "You're a pervert!" Then she quieted, growing very still beneath him.

Kaito opened his eyes from his exaggerated wince of pain to find her staring deeply at him, her lips trembling ever so slightly in the darkness.

Kaito's whole body tensed; quickly he rolled off her and onto the floor.

Aoko sat up, wringing her fingers. "I'd better go home."

"It's four in the morning," Kaito said huskily, then cleared his throat. "It's dangerous in the city at night. You should probably just sleep for two hours here and leave at six, before anyone sees you."

"Okay." Aoko watched him rise slowly with wide eyes. "I'll take the couch. I got more sleep than you did."

"Thanks," Kaito murmured, his eyes averted. "I'm sorry—"

"No," Aoko said quietly. "It wasn't right. Not like that."

"I'll marry you first," Kaito vowed, his gaze bright once again.

Aoko laughed. "Is that a proposal?"

"No, silly. I can do better than that."

"I hope so. And I want a ring. With a blue stone."

Kaito raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"Because I'm your blue gem you're keeping," Aoko explained. "Pandora the red gem is your mistress, who I'm jealous of." she grinned embarrassedly at the flush on Kaito's cheeks. "I want Pandora destroyed before I'll marry you."

"Deal," Kaito said fervently, giving her a flippant wink.

"Go to bed now," Aoko shooed. "You look dead."

"I'm not dead yet," Kaito flashed his dazzling smile, then yawned. "Don't forget to take at least three different taxis back to your dorm. And you probably shouldn't come here for a while again. I'm sorry I even asked you to help me with my costume—I had no right—"

"Kaito," she interrupted.

"What?"

"I love you."

He grimaced and pointed to his 'Kaitou Kid Stole My Heart' tee-shirt. "Sorry, Aoko—I don't swing that way."

"Oh, just go to sleep, you!"

Kaito blew her a kiss and disappeared down the hall. Aoko watched the door for a moment longer, then slowly lay back down on the couch and curled up under a blanket. She lay still, as if asleep, but in the darkness of the tiny living room her brown eyes sparkled as they remained fixed on the door through which Kaito had disappeared.

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "The Things We Do." In which some of this backstory finally gets explained. Yay plot! No more of this yucky fluffy romance nonsense! Kazuha, Ran, Shinichi and Ai make their first appearances! Heiji's there too! Woo!_


	3. The Things We Do

_February 8, 2011: EDITED! About the middle, where the seven of them talk about the Kaitou Kid and the Black Org. Clarifies who knows what, and how much, and how they know it._

Chapter 3: The Things We Do

…

_Two years ago:_

"…Be right there. Thanks, Haibara," Conan said fervently into his cell phone. He closed it and looked up at his companion. "Hattori!"

He and Heiji stood just outside a pool of lamplight on the otherwise dark and deserted sidewalk outside of the Mouri Detective Agency.

"Haibara says she's finished it," Conan said hoarsely, a strange intensity burning in his eyes. "The antidote. If I take it I can be Kudou Shinichi again for good."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Heiji. He threw his spare bike helmet at Conan, who caught it against his small chest with a little grunt. "Let's go!"

"Do we have time?" said Conan reluctantly, clutching the helmet. "Vermouth—"

"She can wait." Heiji revved his engines. "Let's go. It all ends tonight, either way, and Ran's waitin' for you. If you're gonna die tonight, you'd rather die as Kudou then Conan, right?"

"Hattori…" Conan narrowed his eyes and looked away. "Maybe only I should go. I don't want to drag you into this."

"Kudou," Heiji growled. He leaned ominously over the handlebars toward Conan, who hadn't moved. "Don't start this again. You're not gettin' away from me, not after all this. So just shut up and get on."

Conan exhaled.

"Thanks, Hattori."

He grinned. "I'm your best friend, Kudou."

Conan sighed and clambered up behind Heiji. "You always know what to say, don't you?" he said sarcastically.  
"That's what friends're for," Heiji grinned. They pulled out of the parking lot and shot down the street.

A few blocks away, a black Porsche 356A pulled out onto the road as well and began to follow them.

And a few blocks behind that, a white hang glider appeared in the sky.

…

An hour later, a figure dressed all in white and perched on the roof of Professor Agasa's house watched Heiji walk out the front door.

Kudou Shinichi, eighteen years old in both reality and appearance, followed.

Neither of them noticed the observer over their heads. "How does it feel?" Heiji asked Shinichi.

"I…don't know." Shinichi held up his hands. They were shaking slightly, and his face was very pale but for two feverish blotches of red on his cheeks. Heiji opened the gate for him and the two stepped out onto the sidewalk where Heiji's bike was parked.

"I can hardly believe it. I hope this is permanent."  
"Haibara said it was. Anyway, we got a lot more to do tonight, ya know." He shoved a bike helmet in Shinichi's arms—then froze. "Oh, hell."

Shinichi's head snapped up. "What's wrong?"  
"You're big again," Heiji said irritably, eyeing Shinichi. "And you're gonna have to ride on the back of my bike…" He made a face.

Their observer on the roof chuckled to himself and put down his telescope, so he missed both Shinichi's rolled eyes and his shoulders slumped in relief. "Only grade schoolers and Kazuha are allowed on your bike, is that it?" Shinichi said as the figure hopped down to the lawn below and crept up to the garden wall.

"Hell yeah," Heiji said fervently. He sighed. "Well, can't be helped. This is the last time, though!"

"It might well be, if you two aren't a bit more careful."

Shinichi and Heiji whipped around.

Crouching on the top of the fence around Professor Agasa's yard, his back to the moon, was the Kaitou Kid. He tipped his hat at them.

"Evening, detectives. Thought you were going to start the party without me, did you?"

"Kaitou Kid!" Shinichi gasped. "What're you doing here?"  
"Saving your life, seems like," Kid said calmly. "You didn't notice that a black Porsche 356A was following you here, did you?"  
Shinichi blanched. "What—"

"Don't worry about it, I took care of it," Kid said easily. "You're lucky the police like me so much. I led them on a high-speed chase past our alcoholic friend in the Porsche and it scared him away. You're safe for now."

Shinichi clasped a hand to his chest and seemed to be struggling to catch his breath.

"Why are you helping us?" Heiji demanded.

The Kid chuckled. "Maybe we're fighting the same bad guys."

"I thought you were a jewel thief," Heiji said skeptically.

"There's a reason they call me a master of disguise," said Kid. He stood up. "You've still got a ways to go tonight, haven't you, Mr. Detective? The Black Organization…not to mention one Mouri Ran, who's waiting right now for you to explain a few things to her."

Shinichi only stared up at him.

The Kid chuckled. "Well, I don't know how much more help I can be. Just got back from England, you know. Stole the Queen's crown jewels." He flashed them a dazzling smile. "Good luck, you two. And if you survive tonight, here's another little puzzle you might be interested in." He tossed a paper airplane in the shape of his hang glider at them.

Shinichi snatched it out of the air and opened it. There were only two words printed on the paper:

"Kuroba Toichi?" he read aloud, as Heiji looked over his shoulder. "What—?"

But the Kaitou Kid had already disappeared.

Shinichi stared at the spot on the fence where the Kid had been standing. The hand holding Kid's note aloft trembled audibly..

Heiji clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's get going," he said. "He's right; we got a lot still to do tonight. And Ran-neechan just might kill you."

Shinichi winced as he put the Kid's letter in his pocket. "Oi, oi…"

Heiji got on his motorbike and Shinichi, pulling on his helmet, sat down behind him.

"Ah, hell," Heiji sighed. He turned around and glared at Shinichi. "This is a special circumstance. You being recently restored an' all."

"Yeah, yeah," Shinichi grinned. "'Cause you're my best friend, right?"

"You got that right."

…

…

_Present Day:_

Kaito stood on a sidewalk in the Beika district of the city, leaning against a lamppost with his hands in his jacket pockets. When he saw Heiji, Kazuha and Aoko round the corner on the opposite side of the street, he glared at them.

"Why do we always have to go to Kudou's house?" he whined as they crossed the street to him.

Heiji scowled. "'Cause he's got the biggest living room. And," he added as Kazuha and Aoko stepped up onto the sidewalk beside him, "we can't exactly talk about _them_ in the middle of a college dorm, can we? Kudou's parents are never home, so his place is perfect."

"Yeah, yeah," Kaito pretended to sulk as he fell into step between Heiji and Aoko without glancing at either of them. "That guy has no sense of humor." His face brightened abruptly. "It is funny to watch him squirm, though."  
Kazuha laughed. Heiji and Aoko sighed.

"You shouldn't provoke Kudou, ya know," Heiji said. "He already suspects ya."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Hey, if you're so sure I'm the Kid, why haven't you told Kudou yet?"

"Because," Heiji said defensively.

He and Kazuha exchanged glances. It had become clear that, throughout their high school years, he had truthfully been completely unaware of his affection for her. When he finally realized it two years ago, they had become, if possible, even more inseparable, as well as more quarrelsome, but also more communicative. Heiji was now incapable of keeping secrets from her—as soon as Heiji had 'discovered' Kaito's alter ego, Kazuha knew about it, too.

"'Cause I don't have any evidence yet," Heiji said finally, tugging on his baseball cap. "And anyway, he'd want to figure it out on his own." Heiji glared at Kaito. "But the most important thing is gettin' the last of these Black Org bastards. We got Kudou's branch two years ago, when he got his body back, but if the guys after the Kid are part of the Org, s'long as they're still around we gotta work together."

Kaito beamed at him. "You're a dear, Hattori."

"Hmph," said Heiji.

In another few minutes they had arrived at Shinichi's parents' home. Shinichi and Ran answered the door almost immediately after Heiji's knock.

"I heard you guys coming a mile away," Shinichi said with a smirk.

Beside them stood Ai Haibara, the seemingly ten-year-old girl who lived next door with Professor Agasa. Ai had decided not to take the antidote to APTX-4869 that she had finally succeeded in creating two years ago. She had no desire to become Miyano Shiho again, and now seemed quite content to grow up again next to Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko.

Heiji and Kazuha greeted her just as warmly as they had Shinichi and Ran. She nodded solemnly at Kaito and Aoko. "Kuroba-san. Nakamori-san." Kaito grinned and stepped forward as if to shake hands with Shinichi, but then reached up towards Shinichi's face and pulled two flowers out of his ear.

"For you, Ran-chan, Haibara-san," he said courteously, offering them each a flower.

"Wow!" Ran cried appreciatively. "How'd you do that?"

"I bet Shinichi-kun could tell you," Kaito said innocently. "Can't he?"

Shinichi frowned. "You're wearing short sleeves, so you couldn't hide the flower in there—so I'd want to examine that watch you're wearing. I'm certain I'd find invisible wire and a zipline, which allowed you to reel in the flower while your hand was behind my ear and past my line of sight. You took the flowers out of your pocket, dropped them on the ground, then pulled them up behind my back, disconnected them with a twist of your fingers, and then, using me as your stage prop, pretended that they had just appeared."

Kaito laughed. "Cool idea! But that's the thing about magic, Kudou—logic might tell you the right answer, but without actual proof, you can't do a thing about it." He winked.

Heiji chuckled and quickly tried to turn it into a cough. Shinichi's eyes flashed.

"Come in!" Ran interjected. "We can't all stand in the doorway! Come in, come on and sit down!"

She waved them all inside and they followed her through the entrance hall. Heiji elbowed Shinichi as he passed him. "She's already actin' like you two're married," he smirked. Behind him, Kaito grinned as well and winked.

Shinichi shot both of them a bored glare. He followed them into the living room and, with a glance over his shoulder, closed the door firmly behind them.

...

"Twelve cases this month."

"Ha!" Shinichi crowed. "Fourteen! Beat you again, Hattori!"

Heiji's face turned beet-red. "Yeah, well—"

"Shame on you, Shinichi-kun!" Aoko butted in, wagging a finger. "You're in college, you've got a girlfriend, and you've been off on fourteen cases in less than a month?"

"It's okay, Aoko-chan," Ran giggled as Shinichi turned red. "He's counting the cat he found for his neighbor."

Heiji burst out laughing. "A cat!"

"I've still got more than you," Shinichi grumbled, nursing his teacup with an affronted air.

The seven of them: Shinichi, Ran, Ai, Heiji, Kazuha, Kaito and Aoko, were sitting in the living room of Shinichi's parents' house. Shinichi had straddled a chair backwards, Ran was sitting next to him by the teapot, Kazuha was seated in an armchair like a queen presiding over her court, and Heiji stood behind her, leaning heavily on the back of her chair. Ai sat on a low stool between Ran and Kazuha, her back perfectly straight and her hands folded around her teacup. Kaito and Aoko sat side-by-side on the loveseat, not touching, Kaito with an amiable arm along the back, Aoko pretending she hadn't noticed, her eyes growing dark and anxious.

"Any cases about…_them_?" she asked with attempted nonchalance; beside her, the joke that had been about to come bursting forth from Kaito's mouth died on his lips as his gaze shot from her to Shinichi.

Shinichi sat up straight, and checked all the windows and doors with a quick sweep of his eyes before saying, low and serious, one hand on his chin, "No. Nothing. There hasn't been a sign of them for two years, when we took down what seemed to be the main branch of the organization."

"But I investigated Kuroba Toichi's death after all that blew over, like the Kaitou Kid suggested," said Heiji. "An' it was no accident, I can tell ya that."

Kaito looked from Heiji to Shinichi.

"Yeah," Shinichi said. "Hattori, you think the Black Organization was targeting Kaitou Kid for some reason."

"Maybe Kid thought the Org was involved in Kuroba Toichi's death," said Heiji.

"I never heard anything about it being more than an accident," said Kaito. "But if someone's to blame, I'd love to know who."

"Maybe it was Kid!" Kazuha exclaimed excitedly. "Maybe the Kid is a part of the Black Organization—" she faltered at the look on Aoko's face.

"That's stupid!" Aoko snapped. "The Kaitou Kid is an arrogant, self-serving, careless, vain, inconsiderate…_asshole_…but he doesn't kill." She held up a finger. "That's the one thing that helps me keep my sanity. When my dad's up all night chasing the Kaitou Kid from here to England and back, at least I don't have to worry…" she faltered.

"But you do have to worry," Kaito said. "Those mysterious gunmen that show up at Kaitou Kid heists every so often. They've nearly killed people way too many times. Which is why I don't think the Kid is working with the same Organization that Kudou and Hattori took down," he finished.

Kazuha blushed. "It was just an idea." She looked abashedly at Kaito, who winked at her.

"Maybe they're after the same thing," Ai said quietly. She took a sip of tea. "the Org and the Kid, I mean. I'm assuming that Kudou-kun has filled you all in on the Organization's experiments with de-aging substances? Immortality, in effect?"

Shinichi looked slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah, I told Ran—and Hattori told Kazuha-chan—"

"We told Aoko-chan and Kuroba-kun," Kazuha said, slightly defiantly, indicating herself and Heiji. "Was that wrong?"  
"No…" Shinichi said. "Just…what's your interest in all this, Kuroba?"

Kaito held up his hands. "Hey, Hattori came to me asking for help investigating my father's death. I figured if anyone can get to the bottom of that mystery, it's you guys, so I'm not letting you out of my sight until I've heard everything you've got to say."

"Hm," Shinichi said with a frown. "You were saying, Haibara?"

"Yes," said Ai. "That was it."

"Okay," said Shinichi with a little roll of his eyes. "Well, anyway, all we know is that the Kid told us to look into Kuroba Toichi's death. And he intimated that he wanted to see the Black Organization go down, too, which is why he helped us out a bit on that night two years ago. But other than that—I haven't caught a trace of the Black Organization in two years. And there's no way to prove that the gunmen that appear sporadically at Kid heists are in any way connected to them."

"There just isn't enough evidence," said Heiji.

Aoko's chin dropped slightly; Kaito's face went smooth and unreadable.

"We'll find the men who killed your father, Kuroba," Shinichi said seriously, gazing fixatedly at the floor as if it was an unsolved crime scene. "Especially if the Black Organization is to blame. I won't rest until all of the men in black are behind bars."

"What about the man in white?" Kaito snickered. "Still going to arrest the Kaitou Kid, too?"

The room grew still. Shinichi glared at Kaito. "Just because the men in black are the bad guys, that doesn't mean the men in white are good," he said. "There's only one truth, and that applies to all criminals."

The room was silent: Heiji couldn't help but shoot a glance at Kaito, Kazuha couldn't help but shoot a glance at Heiji, Aoko fell very still and Kaito grinned with the wattage of a thousand light bulbs. Ran was frowning at Shinichi.

"Well, enough of the men in black are gone for a normal life again," she said with forced brightness, reaching over to refill Aoko's teacup. "I'm just happy Shinichi's back."

Shinichi looked from Kaito to Ran, and smiled fondly. Behind Aoko, Kaito made retching motions. Aoko slapped him. "Be civil, you."

"I can be civil," Kaito said reproachfully. "How's college going for the rest of you?"

He was answered eagerly by Ran; she had broken away from the careers of her parents in order to study education and Chinese, her best subject; there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she would become a teacher.

Shinichi and Heiji had entered college knowing exactly what they wanted too. They had ended up in all the same classes: criminology, forensics, and psychology, and were the pride and the bane of their harassed teachers. The only classes they had different, in fact, were Shinichi's Victorian English Literature; Heiji's English was already so good he had taken biology instead, a class that, to his ire, Kazuha had taken up and excelled at, though she insisted she had no interest in such 'yuckiness.'

Kazuha was studying the history of religion; her adolescent fascination with charms, good-luck dolls and voodoo had turned into professional interest. Heiji teased that she would end up being an astrologer or palm reader, but Kazuha didn't seem to be concerned with a future career. Work would be to her what school had always been—something to do in between aikido training, time with friends, and bickering with Heiji.

Ai, of course, was attending fourth grade, but she had turned Professor Agasa's basement into her own private laboratory and, as her homework took no effort to complete, still found plenty of time to pursue experiments of a sometimes loud and malodorous nature.

Aoko was attending the same college as the other four, but while their two dorms were right next to each other, Aoko's was on the opposite end of campus, so she saw them far less regularly. She had entered college studying criminology and law in preparation for becoming a police officer like her father, but after learning Kaito's secret she had found her interest in police work waning; finally, when asked she said that becoming an officer would be "too awkward." Kaito found it hilarious that people assumed she meant because she would be subordinate to her father, not because her half-boyfriend was number one on Japan's Most Wanted. She was still enrolled in law classes—she was great at arguing, as Kaito frequently pointed out—but hadn't chosen a career path yet.

And Kaito, to the dismay of his teachers and the quiet acceptance of his mother, had opted out of college. His dream was still to become a famous show magician like his father, but until the Kaitou Kid was no longer necessary and his family was no longer in danger, he was living in an apartment in Tokyo, working as a magician and entertainer in the evenings, pulling heists at nights as the Kaitou Kid, and sleeping all morning.

…

"Where'd he say he was going again?" Shinichi said.

It was a few hours later; Kaito and Aoko had just excused themselves and departed. Now Shinichi and Heiji were standing in the doorway of the Kudou house, watching the two of them walk side by side down the sidewalk.

"Work," said Heiji as, on the other side of the street, Kaito flipped Aoko's skirt.

Shinichi snorted. "Huh. And there just happens to be a Kaitou Kid heist tonight." They watched as Kaito, laughing over his shoulder, sprinted down the block and out of sight, Aoko hot on his tail, her face red and her fists raised. "Does he think pretending to be a normal guy and showing off his girlfriend's going to trick us?"

"What?"  
"Kuroba's the Kaitou Kid. I'm pretty sure." Shinichi looked at Heiji. "Don't you think?"  
"Ah…yeah, I had a hunch," Heiji said, rubbing his head. "But it's like he says, isn't it? Without actual evidence…"

"Yeah," Shinichi said, rubbing his chin. "You're going tonight, right?"  
"To the heist?"

"Of course." Shinichi smirked at him. "Of course, if you've got too much homework…or you're worried about looking bad next to me."

"You wish!" Heiji snorted. "Of course I'm goin'. The Kid ain't yours to catch." He turned around, disgruntled, and walked back into Shinichi's house.

Shinichi closed the door and followed him, his eyes narrowed, a thin smile on his face.

…

…

_Two Years Ago:_

For the former home of a world-famous magician, Heiji thought as he trooped up the front steps, it was sure smaller than he'd expected. He rang the doorbell.

"…Coooommmmming…." groaned a voice from inside. Heiji thought he heard a crash coming from upstairs.

He waited, bemused. After a few moments and not a few thuds and muffled curses, the front door opened.

A young man of about Heiji's age stood in the doorway, wearing pajama pants and a tee-shirt, his black hair disheveled and his eyes puffy with sleep.

Heiji checked his watch. It was two o'clock in the afternoon.

"Ah…. Hi," he began, rubbing his head. "Is this the Kuroba residence?"

"Yup," said the boy with a stupendous yawn.

"Uh-huh," Heiji said awkwardly. "I could come back later if you'd rather…"  
"Nah, nah, it's fine," said the boy. "I'm just super-jetlagged. What can I do you for?"

"My name is Hattori Heiji. I'm a detective, and I'm looking into the death of Kuroba Toichi."

The boy nonchalantly shook Heiji's' extended hand with another large yawn, but Heiji noticed the change; the boy was now watching him with a keen, sharp expression through his puffy eyelids.

"Name's Kuroba Kaito," he said. "Toichi's my dad." Kaito released Heiji's hand and raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you just in the news a few days ago? Bringing down a big criminal organization and all that? With Kudou Shinichi? And something about alcohol…"

"Yup, that was me," Heiji said with a grin. "Always an honor to be recognized."

Kaito grunted sleepily, but his face no longer bore any trace of exhaustion. "You sure don't waste time, do you?"  
"Nope," said Heiji. "…Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure." Kaito waved him inside. "I gotta say, though," he said as he closed the door behind him. "I don't know how much help I can be to you…"

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "The Case of the Confident Actor." Kudou Shinichi and Hattori Heiji versus the Kaitou Kid!_

_A/N:_

_Whew, that was long! Lots of backstory to establish. But that's pretty much all I'm going to say about Shinichi and his antagonists. This isn't Shinichi's story, it's Kaito and Aoko's story. There'll be a few more flashbacks explaining this England business, but that's pretty much it. Is this okay? Does it make sense? Please review!_

_**Heiji's pronouncement that only grade schoolers and Kazuha are allowed on his bike is partially inspired by Alphonse of Fullmetal Alchemist's pronouncement that only women and cats are allowed inside his armor._


	4. BONUS CHAPTER

BONUS CHAPTER

_This conversation took place during Chapter 3, while the group was hanging out at Shinichi's house._

Ran reentered the living room. "Who's hungry?" she said, brandishing a platter heaping with warm cookies.

"We are!" Kazuha jumped to her feet and grabbed the plate. "Mmmm! Ran-chan, these are delicious! Did you make them?"

"Yup," Ran smiled. "New recipe!"

"Who'd you think made 'em?" Heiji chuckled, helping himself to the plate in Kazuha's hands. "Kudou?"  
"Is Kudou-kun a bad cook?" Kaito asked, a little too innocently, his eyes wide and inquisitive.

"Knowin' him, he's gotta be," Heiji grinned as he pulled the plate from a reluctant Kazuha's arms and passed it to Shinichi.

"No, he's not!" Ran said.

The entire rest of the room stared at her incredulously.

"It's just like everything else," Ran said, slightly irritably. "If he put his mind to it, he'd be great at it, but he just doesn't care about food."

"I care about food!" Shinichi said around a mouthful of cookie.

"You care about eating," Ran corrected, sitting down next to him. "There's a difference. You don't care at all about _what _you eat." She looked around the room and raised a finger. "Shinichi would eat raw pasta if there was nothing else in the house, without blinking an eye, and the thought to cook it would never cross his mind."

Kaito and Heiji burst out laughing.

"That's not true!" Shinichi protested.

"Yes it is," Ran retorted, her eyes closed.

"Well, I mean, maybe if I was thinking about a big case—"

"Told you," she gloated.

Shinichi scowled sulkily. "I can never win an argument with this girl."

"Kudou," Heiji said, still laughing, "You're lucky Ran-neechan likes you so much."

"Oh, what're you laughing at?" Kazuha snapped. "You're not exactly a good cook either."

"Well neither are you!" Heiji said, affronted. Aoko giggled; Kaito was watching the two of them with a gleeful, fascinated expression.

"I'm decent," Kazuha said firmly. "I can follow instructions and it usually comes out the way it should. But you—you can't even make Hot Pockets without your mind wandering before you've even got it in the microwave."

"Wha—"

"If it's not about kendo, baseball, or dead people, you can't focus on anything for more than five seconds," Kazuha continued relentlessly. "You forget what you're doin' and add curry powder to Easy Mac—"

"He did what?" Ran gasped as Kaito and Aoko giggled and Shinichi laughed delightedly.

"Hey, that was on purpose!" Heiji protested. "I was bein' artistic."

"You were bein' disgustin'," Kazuha retorted. "I went over to Heiji's house almost every day after school in middle school, and most of the time his mom made us snacks, but the few times she was busy…" she trailed off ominously.

"Cooking is simple," Ai spoke up. The others looked at her, but she only took a calm sip of tea before looking up and noticing their stares. "It's like chemistry. Add the ingredients and watch the reactions."

"Well sorry we can't all be genius chemists," Shinichi said with a sarcastic smirk.

Ai just smiled.

"Hey, Aoko-chan, what about Kuroba?" Heiji said.

"Look who's trying to change the subject," Shinichi said.

"Just be glad we're not talking about you anymore," Heiji growled. "I'm sure Ran-neechan could tell some more stories—"

"—Oh, I could—"

"—But it's Kuroba-kun and Aoko-chan's turn," Shinichi said hurriedly.

"Ha."

Five pairs of expectant eyes turned to the couple on the love seat.

"Kaito?" Aoko said bemusedly, pointing at him. "He's a great cook!"

The rest of the room stared.

"Really?" Heiji said skeptically.

"Yeah," Aoko said. "He can't follow directions for his life—though that doesn't just apply to cooking," she shot Kaito a glare which he returned with a wide grin. "—But he always manages to think up something really quirky and tasty."

"Oh, Aoko-sama, stop it, I'm blushing," Kaito cackled. "You're an okay cook, too."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Aoko said. "I've been cooking for my dad since my mom died, so I learned out of necessity, but Kaito's got a flair for it."

"Flair," Kaito repeated. He put his hands behind his head. "I like that word."

"—Of course," Aoko added, "He's a terrible baker."

"What?" Kaito choked. "I am not!"  
"Yes you are," Aoko insisted. "With baking, you actually have to follow directions, or the food'll either melt down or blow up. And like I said, you are physically incapable of following directions. Remember the time you tried to make me a birthday cake for my fourteenth birthday?"

"That was a beautiful cake!" Kaito howled. "How dare you—"

"The one you _bought_ me was beautiful," Aoko corrected, poking Kaito's nose in evident enjoyment. "Your mom showed me the cake you tried to bake before you went and bought that one."

"This is crazy!" Kaito cried. "My mother tells you everything!"

"Your mom too?" Heiji said. He brandished a cookie for emphasis. "Kazuha and my mom are always having long phone conversations—it makes me nervous."

"What?" Kazuha protested, as Kaito nodded furiously.

"It _terrifies_ me! My mother tells her—_literally_—everything."

Aoko smirked. "Like your thing with—"

Kaito suddenly lunged at her and clapped his hands over her mouth. "No!"

She shook him off. "What? Why can't I tell them about your phobia—"

"No!" he cried, louder, and covered her mouth again. "You absolutely cannot!"

"Phobia?" Shinichi repeated, a rather unfriendly grin spreading slowly on his face. "Phobia of what?"

"Like I would ever tell you," Kaito said darkly. He reluctantly let Aoko drag his hands away from her mouth again, then shot her a look of pure supplication. "Please, Aoko."

"Okay, fine," she snapped, then giggled reluctantly. "Geez."

"Oh man," Heiji said. "Now we gotta know what this is."

"Not likely," Kaito said flatly.

Heiji and Shinichi exchanged glances.

"There is only one truth," Shinichi said. "And it's the detective's job to uncover it."

Heiji twisted his baseball cap from back to front with obvious relish.

Kaito bounded to his feet. "Anyone want to see a magic trick?"

…


	5. The Case of the Confident Actor

Chapter 4:

The Detectives of the East and West **VS** the Kaitou KID:

The Case of the Confident Actor

_"'My, my, so many critics in town these days! I have a new trick I'd like to show you, but I'm so nervous I might swoon right on the stage! Nevertheless, the Hourglass Diamond compels me to try—so I'll do my best in the full moon spotlight. Take one!'_

"This is the heist note?" Shinichi said, his eyebrows raised in an expression of exasperated amusement. "Jeez—Who's the bad guy here, again?"

"We're the bad guy to him," Heiji said, doffing his baseball cap with a chuckle as he looked over Shinichi's shoulder to reread the note as well. His grin was rather feral as he pulled the hat from back to front and tugged it low on his head.

"The first time I faced him, he said something similar to this," Shinichi said, reading the note once again. "'Thieves are artists, detectives are just critics.'"

"Hm." Heiji looked up. They were on the top floor of the Tokyo Fine Arts Museum, in a room with floor-to-ceiling windows on its east-facing wall and only one door on the opposite wall. A case in the center of the room, wherein lay the Hourglass Diamond, surrounded by twenty police officers of the Kaitou Kid Task Force and a red-faced Inspector Nakamori.

"Geez," Heiji said loudly. "Pretty hot in here, isn't it, Inspector?"

"Oi, you two!" growled the Inspector. Sweat was beading on his ruddy forehead and there were large sweat stains beneath his arms. "You done yet? It's half an hour to one o'clock! If you're not going to help then you should just leave and let us do our jobs!"

Shinichi and Heiji exchanged glances. All twenty-three of them had spent the last four hours together in this small, suffocatingly warm museum room, over the course of which the officers grew increasingly fidgety, Nakamori increasingly irascible, Shinichi increasingly intent, and Heiji increasingly a combination of all three.

"Look," said Heiji finally, with another tug on his baseball cap. "I got an idea. Will you and yer men step outside fer a moment?"

"What?" Nakamori protested. "What for? Hey…" He shoved his face in Shinichi's and narrowed his eyes. "Is one of you the Kid?"  
Shinichi regarded him with a sardonic sigh. "No."

Heiji rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we already checked each other."  
Shinichi coughed. "Anyway," Heiji continued, "just—just step outside—not to the next room, to the room beyond that." He opened the door to the room and gestured for the officers to leave. "Then each of you come into the outside room one at a time. I want ta have two seconds alone with each officer. D'ya mind, Inspector?"  
Without waiting for an answer he bustled Nakamori out of the room, shooed the last few police officers in after him, and closed the door behind him with a smirk and a little wave at Shinichi.

Shinichi grinned tightly. "What does he think he's doing…?"

After about thirty seconds, a police officer walked into the room, a slightly bemused expression on his face. A few seconds later, another one did as well. Shinichi had been watching the officers all night, but watched just as intently as each officer came into the room; after only a few minutes, all twenty officers were inside and had taken positions around the room. Inspector Nakamori came in last, and Heiji sauntered in after him. He came over to where Shinichi stood and smirked at him.

Shinichi smirked back. "Me too."

Heiji raised his eyebrows. "How—Never mind." He grinned again. "Shall we?"

Shinichi and Heiji turned around as one and strolled towards the windows. The other officers looked at them bemusedly, but they kept their eyes fixed on only one, a middle-aged man with black hair and dark eyes who looked from Shinichi to Heiji and back again with polite puzzlement as the two approached him. Then his face lit up in a manic grin.

Shinichi flicked open his stun-gun wristwatch, but the officer had already vanished within a burst of white smoke. Heiji charged in after him, as an explosion shook the room and the sound of shattering glass drowned out the other officers' cries. Wind roared into the room, blowing the white smoke into Shinichi's face. He coughed and groped forward. Nakamori was screaming behind him, and from somewhere before him Heiji shouted "W-w-w-wooooah!"

Shinichi lunged forward; his hand caught the back of Heiji's jacket as he tipped dangerously out of the now-empty window pane. Shinichi's shoulder crashed into the wall as Heiji, half-out of the window, flailed his arms. "Woah—! Don't let go, Kudou!"

The smoke began to clear just as quickly as it had come, but Shinichi took no note. Still clutching Heiji's jacket as the other boy struggled to pull himself back inside the building, he watched the little white triangle shoot across the sky and disappear into the full moon's light.

"Shit," he hissed. "We lost him."

"Oi!" Heiji shouted. He flailed his arms. "You can pull me back in any time now!"

…

"At least we stopped him," Heiji said.

It was over an hour later; a dejected Shinichi and Heiji were walking out of the museum and back to their college dorms.

"Yeah," Shinichi said, his eyes on the sidewalk and his brow ponderously creased. "He panicked pretty quickly."

"We caught on to him before he even pulled the heist. That's a first, isn't it?" Heiji said, raising his eyes thoughtfully. "Hey, how'd you figure out who he was?"

Shinichi looked at him. "You tell me first. What'd you do in the hallway?"  
Heiji grinned. "I had each of 'em throw me a punch. I know what kinda martial arts training police officers get, and I saw from police data files that we've deduced that Kid has no formal combat training. I could tell from the punches whose was just a little bit off."

Shinichi smirked. "You took twenty-one punches to figure out who Kid was?"

"Yeah." He frowned at the look on Shinichi's face. "Well, it worked, right? Anyway, how'd you do it?"

"I was watching their eyes," Shinchi said. His face quickly became grave and thoughtful again. "The way the officers were looking at me. I had been watching them all night, noticing where they were looking, how fast their eyes were moving, how nervous they looked. Particularly the colors of their faces, since it's hard to blush or pale while wearing a mask. And the way that guy was looking at me—it was almost like an itch inside my brain. I could tell it was him. Besides, his face wasn't as flushed or sweaty as the other officers', despite the heat of the room."

Heiji raised his eyebrows. "Oi. Are you telling me you watched their eyes to see which one of 'em looked squirrely, or are you tellin' me you 'sensed' which one was Kid?"

"The first one! Well, a bit of both. But I was right."

Heiji sighed exasperatedly. "You're some kind of crazy, Kudou."

They continued walking in silence as, in the distance, a clock tower tolled two o'clock.

"...Hey, Kudou," Heiji said, as the last ring of the clock faded. "Another word for 'swoon' is 'faint,' right?"

"Mmm..." Shinichi said, his brows contracted. "Spelled f-a-i-n-t. But if you spell it f-e-i-n-t—"

"'Take one'..." Heiji said.

"...Two o'clock—"

They gasped. "Take two!"

Both boys whipped around and raced back down the sidewalk to the museum.

"Shit!" Shinichi spat. "It was a feint! He expected to be uncovered before one am! He was coming back!"

"Take two...two am—what does he think this is, a movie?"

Shinichi gritted his teeth and ran faster. They rounded the corner—the museum building was in sight—

"Oi, Kudou, how long d'you think we—"

Before he could say "got" something white shot out of the same shattered top-floor window by which Kid had escaped earlier. Shinichi and Heiji skidded to a halt and watched, the latter open-mouthed, the former furious, as Kid opened his hang-glider mid-fall and swooped over them. His face was impossible to make out, but they could clearly see his white-gloved hand against the dark sky as he waved at them.

Kid made a lazy arc over their heads, then turned and flew back towards the museum. He rounded it, waving once more to the police officers inside as he passed, and then disappeared behind it.

"Let's go!" Heiji shouted.

"It's no use," Shinichi said bitterly. He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the helicopters already streaking across the sky in hot pursuit. "He's already escaped."

…

Kaito didn't go far. As soon as he flew into the police's blind spot on the other side of the museum, he launched three dummy gliders, then quick-changed into black clothing and dropped out of the sky to the buildings below. He landed gently on the fire escape of a twelve-story apartment building and fell flat on his stomach on the landing outside the tenth story, grinning triumphantly, as helicopters rushed over his head in pursuit of the fakes.

Kaito dropped his chin onto the metal grating and lay still, breathing heavily, his heart pounding against the rusty fire escape floor. He crossed his eyes and, grinning, watched a drop of sweat roll down his nose, reach the tip, and fall away to the ground far below.

Two men crossed the alley beneath him.

"—Next week—"

"If that's the best he can do."

Kaito froze. He knew that voice.

"We don't want to draw any particular attention to it," said the first man, rather nervously.

Kaito peered over the edge of the fire escape. The men, dressed in black overcoats and hats, stopped almost directly below him.

"Hm," the second man said. He had a low, gruff voice that sent a chill down Kaito's spine. "But we do want _him_ to pay attention to it."

Kaito's hands twitched. He seized the fire escape in both hands and held perfectly still.

"We could send a fake Kid note," the first man was suggesting. "He always comes to investigate when other people use his name."

"I just said we don't want to draw police attention," the second man said gruffly. "Fool." The first man gulped, but the second continued in the same gruff voice, "It seems we won't need to worry about attracting his attention."

Kaito leaped away hardly a second before the man fired. Bullets pinged off the fire escape as Kaito dove backwards over the railing. Mid-air, he threw a smoke bomb; Billowing pink clouds filled the alleyway and the trenchcoated men stepped back, coughing harshly.

"W-was that—"

The first man broke off, terror on his face. The smoke had already dissipated, and the Kid was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah." The second man reloaded his pistol. "It was the Kaitou Kid."

…

Kaito was now lying flat on the building roof, still dressed in black, his heart pounding as one last straggling police helicopter zoomed over his head, still pursuing the Kaitou Kid dummy—

He rolled onto his stomach and wriggled forward to peer over the edge of the roof. The two men still stood in the alley, their guns drawn. The second was wearing a fedora pulled low, but Kaito caught a glimpse of a broad, pale face, a thick mustache, and dark, beady eyes—

"What should we do, Snake?" the first man said.

For a half a second—only half a second—Kaito's Poker Face slipped; his lip curled and his eyes flashed—but in a moment his face was smooth again, his eyes blank and calculating.

"Do you hear that, Kid?" Snake said loudly. "We're quite appreciative of your assistance in seeking out Pandora for us. There's a gem arriving in Japan in a few weeks via ship. Not sure which one—the organization's been a little fractured since your little buddies knocked off Gin and his gang. Not that I mind. Anyway, would you check it out for us, please?" He laughed cruelly.

_Poker Face Poker Face Poker Face—_

"And don't worry about finding us. Once you've got her, we'll find you." Snake lifted his pistol. "Then we'll take her for ourselves."

Kaito cupped his hand to his mouth and called down into the alley, "That's not very gentlemanly of you."

The first man whipped around, brandishing his gun at the empty alley wall behind them. He started and looked frantically around. "Wh-where is he?"

"He's throwing his voice, fool," Snake growled, then raised his voice and called, "Kaitou Kid! You're only still alive because we have use of you!"

"Is that so?" Kaito called.

The first man spun around again, his gun arm shaking. "How's he doing that—?" he moaned.

"Seems to me you've tried to kill me several times before, Snake. And failed every time."

"There's no reason to kill you until you've outlived your usefulness," Snake called. His eyes darted around the alley but his voice was harsh and confident. "Like I said, we think the jewel coming in is Pandora. Why don't you go see about it for us?"

Kaito threw another smoke capsule at his own feet. Both Snake and the other man jumped and stared upward as pink smoke erupted on the roof of the building

The other man gasped. "K-K-Kaitou—"

The Kaitou Kid, in full costume, appeared in the center of the smoke. He smirked down at the two men in the alley and spread his arms.

"How do you know I haven't already found Pandora and become immortal myself?"

A gunshot cut him off mid-grin.

The other man let out a strangled cry; his face livid with horror, he fired again at the Kaitou Kid.

The Kid's body jerked backwards, his face shadowed, then a final burst of smoke enveloped him and he vanished.

Snake seized the man's gun and tore it from his hands. "You fool!"He struck the man across the face with the butt of the gun.

The man collapsed "But…" the man panted. "But…"

Above them, the roof was empty once more.

Snake shoved his hands in the pockets of his overcoat and turned to leave the alley. The man on the ground watched him. "Are—are you going to kill me?"

Snake turned and regarded him over his shoulder.

"I wasn't going to kill the Kid until he got the gem from us," he said. "But it would have had to be done eventually."

The man rose, still clutching his bloody cheek, and followed Snake out of the alley. "Do you think he's really dead?"

Snake grunted. "He's been dead before."

…

Shinichi and Heiji were once again trudging silently back across the city to their college campus, hands in their pockets, glum expressions on their faces.

"I got a bad feeling about that heist," Heiji said finally.

"So did I," said Shinichi, more fervently than he had meant to.

They continued walking.

"Hey, Hattori," Shinichi spoke up again.

"Mmh?"

"What do you get when you take the first letter of the past ten Kaitou Kid heist notes and put them together?"

"Ending with the 'M' from today?" Heiji said. He frowned for a moment. "P-A-N-D-O-R-A-G-E-M."

"'Pandora gem,'" Shinichi agreed. He rubbed his chin.

"I wonder what that means."

…

_**Next Chapter: "I Don't Want to Be Cold." But Poker Face will do that to you. Blood loss doesn't help either._

_A/N:_

_I realize my word games don't work in Japanese, which is what we're pretending they're speaking. Sorry!_

6


	6. I Don't Want to Be Cold

Chapter 5: I Don't Want to Be Cold

It was stupid to go to Aoko's.

Kaito knew better. The Kaitou Kid knew better. For God's sake, anyone should know better than to go to Aoko's. But after a long, cold, numb flight of slipping through the city's shadows as he fought with slipping into unconsciousness, as the chill night winds buffeted Kaito's body, his clothes drenched with cloud-dew and icy sweat and blood, Kaito at last found himselfon a familiar narrow windowsill on the Tokyo University campus, fourteen stories up and twelve across from the left.

The room was dark. Aoko was lying in bed, but Kaito could see that her brown eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. He pounded on the window.

She turned her head, looked over at him, perched on her windowsill, leaning heavily against the glass—her eyes widened—

Kaito heard her muffled gasp through the glass. He closed his eyes and leaned against it, trying not to shiver, a deep sigh on his lips as he heard the dull scraping of the window being hauled open, and tumbled forward into her arms. She caught him and held him to her chest, her hands touching his face, loosening his tie, gasping at the red wetness of his left arm. Then Aoko slipped her arms under his and, croaking apologies at the way Kaito cried out with pain, dragged him onto the bed she had just vacated.

"Where?" she gasped, wiping her own eyes impatiently, as Kaito settled gingerly into the bed and hissed with pain as she stripped off his jacket and began fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. "Where are you shot?"

Rasping loudly, Kaito gingerly touched the left side of his chest. With a whimper of terror, Aoko ripped his shirt open and pulled it back.

A thin, supple layer of bulletproof Kevlar lay across his chest.

"Never leave home without it," Kaito joked hoarsely, inclining his head to look at her where she knelt at his side. "It's the next big thing in fashion."

Aoko choked on a startled, half-delirious laugh. "You—" She drew in a sharp breath when Kaito's still-gloved fingers probed along the left half of his chest, and from the Kevlar pulled a slim silver bullet. "Oh my God."

The bullet slipped from Kaito's fingers as he fell back on the bed, breathing heavily and cradling his left arm. "There's no bullet in my arm, I think," he rasped, chest heaving. "But I've got to stop the bleeding."

Almost before he finished the sentence Aoko had leapt from his side and come crashing to her knees by him again, a sheet in her hand and a set expression on her face.

"Let me see it."

Slowly, Kaito released his left arm. She touched it gingerly. "It isn't big, thank God," she whispered. "Just bled like hell."

Kaito watched with tired, glazed eyes as she tore the sheet into strips and bandaged his bleeding arm so tightly he turned white.

When she finished, Aoko sat back on her heels. Kaito's gaze slid up from his arm to meet hers.

Kaito's hair was matted and sweaty, his white pants scuffled and dirty; he was naked from the waist up except for the Kevlar vest and the blue collared shirt dangling off his bloody wrist. His face was composed, impassive, his right eye still masked by the monocle, only a slight fatigue visible in the depths of his ageless, emotionless eyes.

Slowly, with shaking fingers, Aoko reached over and tugged the monocle off by its cord. He blinked like a sleepy child surprised by sudden light. His eyes were strangely bright.

"I'm cold."

Aoko rose up on her knees and wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid his injured left arm. He reached awkwardly around with his right arm to touch her cheek and then bury his fingers in her hair as she dropped her head to his shoulder and planted a kiss on his neck.

Then he withdrew his hand to fumble with the straps of his Kevlar vest. Aoko lifted her head to help him undo the clasps and he let out a hiss of pain as, with a damp sucking sound, she peeled the armor off his sweaty torso.

Aoko gasped. Small, dark bruises had blossomed on the left side of his pale chest, where the bullets had struck the Kevlar. She touched one with her cool fingertips and Kaito's face screwed up in pain. Their eyes met.

Kaito spoke. "It was Snake."

Aoko's eyes widened, but she did not speak.

"I wanted to kill him, Aoko."

Aoko's silence became grave.

"I had a clear shot. I could have done it. Twice I almost did." Kaito shifted disconsolately, his gaze fevered. "But phantom thieves don't kill."

"I know, Kaito."

"I don't want to kill him," Kaito whispered. "He killed my father. He could kill you."

"Kaito—"

"Feelings are a distraction, my father said. He called it Poker Face, closing himself off. But I saw Snake tonight, talking about Pandora…"

"I hate him," Aoko mouthed.

"Phantom thieves aren't supposed to hate. They're not supposed to feel. Poker Face. But not feeling was a feeling tonight," Kaito said, his voice hollow. "…All I wanted was to kill him. It was cold."

Aoko touched Kaito's cheek. "I love you."

Kaito exhaled gustily. "I don't want to be cold," he whispered.

So Aoko stood up and climbed over him onto the bed; he jerked in surprise but she lay down on his right side, away from his wounded arm, and put her arms around his waist, beneath the bruises.

He lifted his head, his eyes wide, and a look of protest, of exaggerated outrage, came over his face. So Aoko, to forestall the witty insult forming on his lips, kissed them.

She meant to pull away, but beneath her fingers the taughtness of Kaito's face hardened even more; he buried his right hand in her hair and held her lips to his. Aoko closed her eyes and kissed him.

They lay together on the bloodstained sheets of Aoko's dorm room, shivering in the cold air from the open window, Aoko cradling his head in her arms, Kaito's injured left hand resting against her hip, his right arm tight around her shoulders. Aoko kept her eyes squeezed shut as she kissed him, as her hands ran through his damp hair, and after a long while she felt his right hand slide beneath her tee-shirt, his gloved hand trace her spine up to her shoulders—

The happy roaring in Aoko's ears almost drowned out the clattering noise from the windowsill, but Kaito reacted as though electrocuted. He sat up with a gasp and in a moment was on his feet, sending Aoko reeling back, tugging her tee-shirt down over her navel in confusion and embarrassment and wide-eyed shock to see a gun in Kaito's hand, the safety popped and the barrel pointed through the open glass door in less than a breathless second.

It was a dove, one of Kaito's own, perched on the windowsill like a glowing angel silhouetted against the imperfect blackness of a not-so-sleepy city, its head cocked in oblivion as it looked at Kaito's gun with one heather-grey eye and then the other.

Kaito's gun-arm shook, then he dropped it to his side. It was his left and it was bleeding again as he let the gun slip from his fingers with an aggrieved sigh and gripped his arm with his right hand.

Slowly he turned to look at Aoko, her eyes wide and her cheeks scarlet as she knelt on the bed, her arms folded protectively across her chest. "I'm sorry," Kaito mumbled.

Suddenly Aoko's head was splitting with a shattering headache.

"Sorry?" she repeated. "Sorry?" louder this time, her voice breathy.

"Aoko—" Kaito tried, but it was too late. Aoko leaped to her feet, a towering five feet and two inches of trembling rage.

"My _God_, I can't live like this!" she cried, stamping her foot.

"Aoko, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"It was a _dove_, Kaito, a _dove_! And you act as if it's a murderer or an assassin!"

"How was I supposed to—"

"Every time!" She stamped her foot again. "This happens every time! I can't—Aah—I can't keep doing this! I _hate_ walking down the street, wondering if I'm being followed! I _hate_ watching the news at three in the morning, wondering every second if you're still alive! I _hate_ how you have to go for that damn gun at every tiniest squeak or rustle or—or footstep—because you _never know_—"

Kaito's face went stone-cold blank, his posture slightly slouching, hands in his pockets. "Aoko."

Aoko burst into tears. "And damn your Poker Face to hell!" she shrieked.

Kaito didn't flinch, but something softened in his eyes as he moved softly closer.

But Aoko retreated, waving him away. "Kaito—" She turned away, one hand pressed to her throbbing forehead. "You'd better go."

Kaito froze as quickly as his eyes—and then he gave a passive nod. "If you want."

Aoko's free hand clenched into a fist. "Are—are you okay?" she muttered, her eyes averted.

"Yeah."

"Do you need a shirt?"

"I'm good." He was already pulling street clothes from the lapels of his discarded Kaitou jacket.

"Good," Aoko said with an icy venom that shocked herself almost as much as it did Kaito, though all she could see of his reaction was a slight freezing as he straightened, his equipment in his hands. Without meeting her eyes, Kaito strode to the door, opened it, hesitated again with his hand on the doorknob, and then briskly was gone.

The only evidence that he had ever been more than smoke and mirrors were the bloodstains on the sheets, the dove on the porch, and the fierce pounding of Aoko's heart.

…

_Next Chapter: "Kudou vs Kid: The Case of the Fantastic Jewels." On the hunt for the ship that could bear the Pandora Gem!_

_A/N:_

_**Blech! What is this? Didn't I say no more fluffy romance? Yeesh! Well the next chapter is all action! _

_Please always review!_

4


	7. The Case of the Fantastic Jewels

_**Feb 8, 2011: EDIT**__: I changed part of Chapter 3: "The Things We Do." You __**HAVE**__ to go back and reread the conversation that the seven of them (Shinichi, Ran, Kazuha, Aoko, Heiji, Ai and Kaito) have about the Kaitou Kid and the Black Organization. That should clarify who knows what about what in this fic universe. I'm sorry for the confusion! I confused myself! But please go back and __**reread the middle of chapter 3**__ before you read this chapter!_

…

Chapter 6: Kudou vs KID:

The Case of the Fantastic Jewels

It was eleven pm, and Aoko sat cross-legged on her dorm room bed, textbooks forgotten beside her, a freshly-washed blanket twisted in her hands. Her eyes were glued to the news live-streaming across the laptop on her knees.

"…Bringing you live to the latest Kaitou Kid heist, which the international thief announced only this morning, with an aerial view of—not a museum or a glamorous mansion, but a crowded dock at Tokyo Seaport…"

The image on the screen switched from the reporter to an enormous cruise liner docked next to two or three smaller ships. A large crowd had gathered around it.

"…The Kid's last heist was three weeks ago when, despite the best efforts of Inspector Nakamori and famous young sleuths Kudou Shinichi and Hattori Heiji, he successfully made off with the Hourglass Diamond—which was, as you'll recall, located three days later at the Beika district Police Station, in young Mr. Kudou's coffee mug…"

Despite the press of tiny policemen on the dock, the thin young man with dark hair standing next to her father, Inspector Nakamori, was easily distinguishable as Shinichi. Heiji wasn't there; he was attending Kazuha's Aikido tournament. They didn't know, like Aoko did, that if all went well this would be the Kid's last heist.

_"He didn't say it was Pandora."_

_ "But it might be!"_

_ "They all 'might be,'" Kaito said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes._

Nevertheless, she knew he had prepared for tonight with extra caution.

"…Still not sure what the Kid's intended target is," the journalist's voice was saying over the aerial shot of the dock. "Police assume that the jewel thief's target is aboard the _Andvarinaut_, the Swedish luxury cruise liner visible here."

Aoko shook her head slowly, the blanket clutched beneath her chin.

Apparently, someone else disagreed with the journalist as well. On Aoko's laptop screen, the slight dark figure that was Kudou Shinichi had slipped away from Inspector Nakamori's side, and was making his way down the dock, not towards toward the _Andvarinaut_, but to a smaller cargo ship whose name, _Hikari no Yama_, was barely visible in the corner of the news screen.

The image changed back to the journalist seated at a desk, behind a blurry photograph of the white-clad Kaitou Kid. As the journalist began to recount some of Kid's past heists, the news ticker below was spelling out the note that Kid had faxed to Inspector Nakamori's office just that morning:

_I'm after the true jewel tonight…_

…

"One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish—cubic zircona's quite all right; but Zephyr heard my whispered wish: I'm after the true jewel tonight."

Inspector Ginzo Nakamori frowned as he reread the note. "We're missing something," he growled.

His aide rubbed his head. "Cubic zircona's a cheap mineral used in diamond substitutes, and the only diamonds that have come into the port today are aboard the cruise liner, _Andvarinaut._ We've gathered them all together and put every possible protection on the room."

"It's not like Kid to send a note so last-minute, too," Ginzo said, as if he hadn't heard. "And the nature of the message…it was a fax, and he didn't quite scramble the source enough that we couldn't tell it was from a ship. A ship not too far out from the shore, at that. 'Red fish, blue fish…'"

The aide laughed nervously. "Too bad Kudou-kun couldn't figure it out. Hey—" he peered around the inspector. "Where is he?"  
"Who cares?" Ginzo seethed. He clenched his fist. "That stuck-up little brat acts like our _jobs_ are just a hobby for him. He cares more about dead people than catching the Kaitou Kid!"

"A-at least he's polite about it," the aide offered. "He's a very nice, professional young man. Hakuba Saguru always acted as if the police only got in his way. But speaking of Kudou-kun—" the aide craned his neck to look about the crowded dock. "Where'd he go?"

"Hm," Ginzo grunted. "Wonder how Hakuba-kun's doing." He looked back at the note, and his face became once again taught with irritation. "What in the world does 'one fish two fish red fish blue fish' mean?"

…

Shinichi had to dodge a few reporters on his way through the crowd surrounding the cruise ship _Andvarinaut, _but once out of the spotlights from the hovering helicopters and away from police officers, journalists, and rabid Kaitou Kid fans, there was no one to stop him from slipping over a guard rail and hopping aboard an almost-empty cargo ship on the same dock.

He made his way across the deck and down a flight of stairs to the ship's hold. There he paused and looked around him with narrowed eyes. A soft moonlight filtered in through the small portholes in the curved walls, illuminating a low-ceilinged, long room full of rows of neatly stacked boxes. Save for the ship's gentle creaking as it rocked in the water, the hold was quiet.

Shinichi licked the sweat off his upper lip and carefully edged his way down the narrow aisle, his fingers already positioned on the stunner button of his watch. He rounded a particularly large stack of crates—and nearly cried out.

A sailor, a youngish man dressed in a brown worksuit, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, was bending over a small opened crate. He looked around when Shinichi came into view.

"Who are you?" the sailor snapped, still bent over the crate. "How'd you get aboard?"

"I walked in," Shinichi said, his voice very calm, though the back of his neck was damp with sweat.

"Trespassing—?"

"—The question is," Shinichi said over him, "how'd _you_ get aboard?"

The sailor tugged irritably at his baseball cap. "What're you talking about? I work here—"

"I'll tell you," Shinichi interrupted. His finger twitched on the trigger button of his stun-watch—but he kept his arms at his side.

"This ship, the _Hikari no Yama_, just pulled in a few hours ago. But you've been on it for over twelve hours at least. Haven't you, Kaitou Kid?"

The sailor slowly rose to his feet, his body still half-turned away from Shinichi. In the dim half-light of the hold it was impossible to make out his face.

Shinichi put his hands in his pockets. "That's the reason for the late notice for this heist. You weren't sure what ship your prize was going to be on. So you only confirmed that the _Hikari no Yama_ was the one this morning, just before you sent Inspector Nakamori a faxed message from the captain's cabin. You must have become very familiar with all ships pulling into and out of this particular dock in the past week, because you wrote in your note that you were coming to the 'true jewel.' You didn't mean your target. That was a hint about which ship you were on.

"That's how I knew that this ship, this dinky little cargo ship, instead of the glitzy cruise liner next door, was the one you were on. The cruise ship's name is 'andvarinaut,' a jewel from Norse mythology. It doesn't actually exist. This ship's name, however, 'hikari no yama,' or 'mountain of light,' has the same name as the famous Koh-i-noor diamond from India. People thought it was a legend, but the Koh-i-noor diamond is real. Andvarinaut is not."

The sailor laughed. "That's pretty clever-sounding—but how could the Kid get on board this morning if we just docked a few hours ago? We were miles off the coast."

"Not this morning," Shinichi corrected. "Last night. You used your hang glider, making use of the diurnal local winds which occur at the sea coast. You see, because water heats and cools more slowly than land mass does, after nightfall the ocean is still warm from the day's sun long after the land has already cooled off. Because hot air rises, drawing cool air in to take its place—this is basic high school Earth Science—it creates a breeze going from the land, now cool, out over the ocean, still warm, called a land breeze. As the night goes on, the ocean cools slightly, and the breeze decreases in strength. Then, during the day, it's reversed; the breeze blows primarily from the ocean out over the land. This is called a sea breeze.

"You used your hang glider to ride the land breeze out from Tokyo to this ship. In fact, you must have been doing this for weeks, checking ships to see which one held whatever it is that you're looking for. You landed on each ship under cover of darkness and searched it for your target. If it wasn't there, you'd wait until early morning, and then use the sea breeze to fly back to land.

"Last night, you realized that this ship, the _Hikari no Yama_, was the one you were searching for. When you confirmed your target was aboard, you finally faxed the Inspector's office, calling the police to the docks tonight. Then all you had to do was hide aboard and wait for the ship to arrive, when you could slip off with whatever's in that safe by your feet."

Shinichi grinned. "Am I right?"

The sailor tugged his cap low and cocked his head, a brilliant grin of his own visible beneath the brim. "Sounds pretty good to me." He let out a snicker. "You and I are two of a kind, Kudou-san. Do you know that?"  
Shinichi kept his hands in his pockets, but his upper lip had started to sweat again. He and the sailor were hardly two meters apart in a crowded cargo hold.

"I do have one question, though," he said. "You must have been checking out several ships coming into this dock in the past few weeks. That's why you only sent the heist note this morning, and why you knew enough about the other ships planning to dock here tonight to use the pun about 'true jewels.' It sounds like you're not sure what you're after. Like you're following a tip." Shinichi frowned. "From my experience with your career, that doesn't seem to be your style."

"I don't like fish," the sailor interrupted, his voice light.

Shinichi paused. "Excuse me?"

"One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Did you figure out that part of the riddle?"

Shinichi frowned. "The 'fish' lead us to the seaport, and the 'one' and 'two' put together make 'twelve,' the dock we're on."

"Black fish, blue fish," the sailor continued, as if he hadn't heard. "Old fish, new fish. This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are!"

Shinichi felt his muscles tense. He fingered his stun watch, his eyes narrowed and fixed on the sailor.

But the sailor was still leaning casually against the stacked crates. "Yes," he said. "Some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new. Some are sad. And some are glad." He stood up straight, and Shinichi caught a glimpse of his profile in the faint light through the porthole.

The sailor tugged his baseball cap further down his face, but Shinichi could feel his eyes on him. "And some are very, very, bad."

In spite of himself, Shinichi felt a chill run down his spine. "Why are you quoting children's books?"

"There are a lot of fish in the sea, tantei-san. Are you sure you've caught them all?"

"The Black Organization," Shinichi breathed. "Are you saying you're connected to them?"

"Isn't that the detective's job to figure out?"

"Then what's your job?" Shinichi snapped. "You'll put on the show, while I work behind the scenes?"

The sailor grinned wider than ever. "Figuring out my job is also part of your job. Speaking of which—

He suddenly scooped up the safe in the open crate at his feet and bolted down the narrow corridor. Shinichi whipped his hands out of his pockets, stun wristwatch ready, but before he could fire both boys noticed the thin, flat, beeping object at the bottom of the robbed crate.

Shinichi rocked back on his heels; his eyes widened—

"A bomb?"

But the sailor reacted as if he had expected it. From the inside of his jumpsuit he produced a dark object that he hurled at the opposite wall of the hold; it exploded against the far wall as the thing in the bottom of the crate at their feet continued to beep, and then Shinichi found his arm in a tight grip.

Smoke was filling the hold from whatever the sailor had thrown; the opposite wall of the ship had been blasted away. The sailor pushed him through the hole, and Shinichi found himself falling—then hands seized him under the arms and he shot forward—

Shinichi craned his head around. The Kaitou Kid, hang glider open, was flying with him over the water.

The Kid's arms were looped under Shinichi's, the safe in his gloved hand pressed to Shinichi's chest.

Before he could speak, or even struggle, the _Hikari no Yama_ exploded behind them.

Both Shinichi and the Kid cried out as a wall of heat bowled them over mid-air. Shinichi felt the arms slip out from beneath him; he tried to grab on, but his fingers only closed around the metal safe, and he plummeted two meters to an abandoned dock as a fireball roared out of the hole that the Kid had just blown in the ship's side.

Shinichi curled into a ball where he had landed and threw his hands over his head. His eyes squeezed shut against the flash of light as the explosion illuminated the entire port and then just as abruptly receded into flames and smoke and darkness.

Shinichi didn't move. His ears were ringing, his whole body shaking. Slowly he uncurled himself and opened his eyes.

A helicopter searchlight blazed over him to train on the smoking wreckage that was now the _Hikari no Yama_. He winced, blinked, rolled over onto his stomach but then couldn't breathe and rolled again onto his back, chest heaving, his hands clasped to his ears. Now more lights were shooting across the sky, and Shinichi couldn't keep his eyes open against the glare. He tilted his head to the side and stared instead at the smoking hull not twenty meters from him. A few brave policemen were trying to board it.

After a moment Shinichi realized that his cell phone was vibrating in his pocket. Shinichi fished it out with trembling fingers, then rolled over onto his stomach and pressed one hand against his ear as he pressed his cell phone up to the other.

"Kudou here."

"Kudou-kun!" the voice on the cell phone was tinny and distant to his ears. "You're alive! What happened? Are you okay?"

Even through the ringing in his ears and the roar of the horrified crowd further down the dock, Shinichi recognized Aoko's voice.

"I'm okay," he mumbled.

"—Oh thank God—And…"

Shinichi made a motion as if to stand but then quickly decided against it and pressed the phone still more tightly to his ear. "Think he's okay, too…the Kid. He got me out." Shinichi coughed. "Did he—"

"Of course not!" Aoko shrieked, fury now tingeing her sobs. "It was _them!_"

"Who is—"

"Shinichi-kun, you've got to go after him. They're here, they're after him!"

"Aoko-chan…" Shinichi muttered, blinking furiously. His head was throbbing. He turned his head and his eyes fell on the small safe lying by his side.

"Please, Shinichi!" Aoko's voice had become hysterical; she was speaking very quickly as she sobbed, "I'm watching on the news; I saw which way he went—the officers on the ground don't know yet, they're not moving, so it has to be you. He needs your help, I know he does—"

Shinichi pushed himself up to his knees, his eyes still on the fallen safe. "Who are you talking about—"

"Kaito!" Aoko shrieked. "Kaito, it's Kaito, Shinichi-kun, please, it's him, please help him…"

Shinichi jumped to his feet, then let out a moan and clapped his free hand to his aching forehead. "Which—which way did he go, Aoko-chan?"  
"N-northwest," she stammered. "A few docks down. Be careful—"

Shinichi snapped his phone closed, scooped up the safe and spun around—not towards the bright lights and loud crowds near the _Andvarinaut_, but, face pale and teeth gritted, he directed himself away towards the darker, emptier side of the seaport.

…

This side of the seaport was far less polished than the dock on which the cruise liner _Andvarinaut_ had moored. The docks were narrower, the buildings dirtier and more crowded. Shinichi jogged lightly down the pier, his finger on his stun watch when he rounded a corner—and saw the Kaitou Kid not twenty meters in front of him.

Shinichi dove back around the building. The Kid hadn't noticed him, Shinichi thought; he had been looking in a different direction, as if speaking to someone in an alley on the other side of the building that Shinichi couldn't see.

Then, his back pressed to the wall, Shinichi slowly peered out of the shadows.

The Kid stood at the end of a long, narrow dock, shining like a beacon over the dark water. His right, monocled side was facing Shinichi in profile. The end of the dock was dented as if the Kid had crashed into it, and the pants legs of Kid's suit were dirty. His hands were raised.

"Are you going to shoot me?" the Kid said cheerfully, as if anticipating the punch line of an excellent joke.

"You don't have it?" snarled a voice from around the corner. "You lost it?"

"Why did you bomb the ship?" Kid said, his hands still raised.

Shinichi set down the safe and craned his head closer to hear.

"Like I said, the Organization hasn't been the same since your pals tore up the head honchos two years ago." The voice was that of a man, low and gruff. "I figured there'd be some trap. Thanks for checking it out for me."

"I expect you don't care that innocent people have just died," the Kid said cooly. "But you're a fool, Snake. You've called attention to yourself. Now it'll be even easier for me to crack you wide open."

"Doesn't matter," the man said. "The ship's ledgers had to be destroyed in any case. And you can't blame me for hoping you'd slip up. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone. In any case, the blame will fall on you first, and by the time they deduce someone else was present, I'll have already disappeared with the gem. Which brings us back to the first point."

"Like I'd give it to you," the Kid chuckled.

Shinichi heard the sound of a gun cocking.

"Don't make me make this personal. I know who you are—took me a while, what with the chaos the Kudou boy caused, but I've got an idea now. I know the girl you've been seeing, that cute little college student. The inspector's daughter."

Even behind the opaque monocle, Shinichi saw an expression flash across Kid's pale face. His hands dropped—

Shinichi jumped up. "Over here, officers!" he shouted, shining the beam of his wristwatch light around the corner.

A gunshot went off; the bullet whizzed through the Kid's top hat. In the light from his watch Shinichi caught a quick glimpse of a man in an overcoat with a thick handlebar mustache, his dark, cold eyes blinking in the sudden brightness. The man's pistol glinted, then Shinichi threw himself down as gunshots cracked over his head.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Kaitou Kid make a throwing motion with his right arm as he extended his left—the sleeve of which was blotched with red—A grapple line shot out from his sleeve to a building behind him. Shinichi aimed his watch at Kid, then dug a hand into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out a revolver of his own, and fired two shots down the alley where the trenchcoated man had stood.

In the next instant, the gunshots had ceased, Kid had flown to the top of the distant building, and Shinichi rolled back to his cover behind the building.

The alley before him was empty; the faint sound of vanishing footsteps faded away beneath the soft lapping of the agitated waves against the docks.

Shinichi stood. The pier was deserted once again; the only evidence of the brief, baffling conversation he had just heard was the damaged dock into which the Kid had crashed, and a small, white paper airplane that had landed on the pier before him.

Shinichi stepped forward and opened it.

_Thanks. But don't do that again._ The note was signed with a caricature of a Kaitou Kid face grimacing at a fish with a handlebar mustache.

Shinichi pocketed the note and his gun. Head still ringing, he slowly turned and picked up the small black safe.

"…Pandora Gem?" he said aloud, considering the safe.

A clattering noise sounded behind him. Shinichi whipped around—but the dock appeared empty once again.

Shinichi frowned, scooped up the safe, and ran as fast as he could back to the crowded pier.

"Sorry," he muttered under his breath as he ran, his eyes flashing in the darkness, "but you can't keep me out of this one…Kuroba."

…

_**Next Chapter: High (Tea) Time. Because you knew he was bound to show up sooner or later…_

_A/N:_

_Oh, hey, look, a plot! What do you know! And speaking of plot, I hope you reread chapter 3 before reading this one, because I changed the setup for the plot that that chapter establishes._

_I'm sorry about the edits. I had confused myself with who knows what about what. See, when this fic started in my head, chapter 1 was supposed to be a funny one-shot: 'Oh, what if Heiji knows Kaito's secret, and Aoko knows—awkwardness galore!' I laughed to myself and thought it was over—but then Aoko and Kaito came back into my head demanding an angsty romantic exploration of the dark side of Aoko knowing Kaito's secret. Then I just kept writing these chapters without any real plot idea in mind. I got up to about chapter 8 or 9 before I realized that I was in way over my head and would have to figure out how it was going to end before I could continue. So when I finally figured that out, I went back and edited the first chapters. But I wasn't careful enough with Chapter 3. So I had to go back and change it before I could continue._

_Basically I realized that Shinichi, and his experience against the Black Org, is going to have to play a slightly larger role than I thought. I still don't intend to go into the specifics of how Shinichi gets his body back and defeats Gin et. al., partly because this is Kaito and Aoko's story, and partly because I don't write Shinichi very well, but there's going to be more flashbacks. So this story won't be told in a very linear fashion, but hopefully it works. _

_Please review, and tell me if you're confused! I've got a more detailed plan now, and some other characters are going to be sharing some of their information in the next two chapters. One of these is Ai, and another one you may be able to guess from the next chapter's title…_

_**Title note: Because 'fantastic' comes from the Latin word 'fantasticus,' meaning 'imaginary'—get it? Fantastic jewels, imaginary jewels…Hah hah…Ahem. Anyway, please review!_


	8. High Time for Tea

_**Warning: original character alert…**_

_**ff-dot-net won't let me put parentheses in the chapter titles…so the real title of this chapter is: _

Chapter 7: High (Tea) Time

It was precisely four fourteen and twelve-point-four seconds pm in London, England, and Hakuba Saguru was seated in the back corner of a small café on the Cambridge University campus. Students in school uniforms laughed and sipped drinks around him, but he, dressed in corduroys and a sweater vest, sat alone, two half-empty tea cups on the table before him, as the cold November winds shivered the trees outside. He held his pocket watch in one hand and an iPhone in the other, and his eyes were glued to the news report streaming over the phone's screen.

So intent was his focus that he almost didn't notice a young woman in a white shirt, black pleated skirt, and Cambridge blazer sneak up behind him.

She tapped him on the shoulder. "What're you doing?"

He jumped, whipped around in his seat, and took in the young woman's bespectacled face. He winced. "Morgan!"  
"Goodness, Saguru." She tossed her long purple-streaked black hair over her shoulder as she slipped into the seat across from him. "I dash off to the loo for two minutes and you're watching the news again! It's enough to make me want to put a curse on you. By which I mean experiment on you, of course."

Saguru raised his eyebrows at her. "Let me take the time to say that for a student of biochemistry you have a truly incomprehensible sense of humor. There—that took two-point-oh-two seconds." He leaned forward across the table towards her and held the iPhone so they both could see its screen. "Morgan, look at this."

Over the murmurs of the crowded café they could both hear the journalist's voice coming over the speakers:

"_This just in: one dead, three injured in Phantom Thief 1412's latest heist at Tokyo seaport…"_

The shot on the screen changed to a pale-faced Inspector Nakamori, below whom the news ticker displayed the local time: one twenty am. A translator said in English over the Japanese reporter's question: "Why did the Kid resort to murder in this heist?"

Saguru's face tightened. "The Kid, murder?" he said with a disparaging smirk. "What evidence do they—"

"Shh," Morgan hissed. "Look."

On the screen, color had flooded Inspector Nakamori's white face; he was now roaring in Japanese at the camera, over which the translator blithely reported "There is no evidence linking the Kaitou Kid to the explosion on the ship. We cannot rule out the possibility of third parties…"

Morgan smiled drily. "Bet you know what he's really saying."

Saguru flashed her a tight smile of his own. "I couldn't repeat it in a lady's company."

The two of them sat back, their eyes still fixed on the screen in Saguru's hand, as images of the wrecked ship, the injured sailors, and the police officers crowding the dock flashed by, one after another. Then the journalist behind the desk reappeared.

"The question is," the reporter said, "What has caused the Phantom Thief Kid, previously known for scrupulous nonviolence, to turn to murder?"

"Nonsense." Saguru thumbed off the volume and let the iPhone drop with a clatter to the table, a contemptuous smirk on his face. He looked at his pocket watch in his left hand. "It's ridiculous to jump to the conclusion that the Kid is culpable of the murders not an hour after the occurrence. The police aren't even sure what Kid's target was."

His brown eyes narrowed as he looked back at the silent screen on the table, still showing images of the wrecked ship and the flashing fire trucks around it, then continued, "His prior commitment to nonviolent theft notwithstanding, my research more than proves the presence of a dangerous third party in the Kaitou Kid mystery. The Jodie Hopper Case…the Crystal Mother Case…not to mention the last two Kaitou Kid heists I attended, two years ago, the Case of the Crystal Amaranth, and the Case of the Queen's Jewels, in London… Whatever 'specialists' they're interviewing don't know the first think about the Phantom Thief."

Morgan glanced at the iPhone screen, where the news anchor was now interviewing two men seated with him at the news desk. "Imbeciles," she agreed with conviction, the corners of her mouth twitching. "Brainless idiots compared to your genius in this field."

Saguru's lips twitched slightly too, but a rapaciousness had come into his eyes as they bored holes in the screen. "Morgan," he said.

"Would you like me to turn them into newts for you?" she said over him with a grin and another toss of her hair. "Of course, I can't actually turn them into newts magic-wand-style, you know, but I do have some newt DNA down at the lab, and if you'd like I'll devote my graduate work to gene-splicing, and then for my Ph.D. thesis I'll turn whoever you like into a newt-human cross-breed—"

"Morgan," Saguru said again. He gave her a pale smile, one eyebrow cocked.

The smile fled from Morgan's lips. Her face slowly drained of color.

"You're not thinking of going?" she said softly. "In your condition?"

Saguru tapped the screen with a finger. "Men like these—murderers, thieves, marksmen—they've been showing up at Kid heists for several years—as I am now well aware," he said with a light smile that Morgan did not return. "But it seems that their activity has increased even more dramatically. After two years of extreme caution, they are willing to attack bystanders once again."

"And you want to know _why_," Morgan mocked.

Saguru raised his eyes to look at her, but didn't move his head. "Wouldn't you?"

Morgan frowned at him. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked finally.

He took a sip of tea and shot her a cocky glance out of the corner of his eye. "Of course."

Morgan slammed her palms on the table so hard that their teacups rattled on their saucers. "Don't look at me like that, Saguru."

"How exactly am I looking at you?"

"Like that—exactly like that! When you're uneasy or intimidated by something, Saguru, you look at it out of the corner of your eye, and tilt your face away—and it makes you look terribly dashing, and clever, and arrogant, and all that, and you can get away with it because you're a rather handsome fellow, so most people mistake it for confidence, but I have been studying you for many years, Saguru Hakuba, and I know what it really means. And I won't let you go until you can put down that damn watch and look me full in the face and tell me you will be safe!"

He looked at her rather blankly for a moment. Then a soft smile, quite unlike the tight smirks he had offered thus far that evening, spread slowly across Saguru's face. He reached across the table to take Morgan's hand in his—her fingernails were painted black, and she had a Cambridge University ring on one finger—and lifted them to his cheek.

"Morgan," he said, "I'll be okay."

"What makes this different from two years ago?"

"I'm more prepared now," Saguru said. "I have a plan, Morgan. I'll be okay."

Morgan glared, her mouth pinched, her cheeks still pale.

"You shan't be gone long," she said finally.

"No," Saguru grinned.

Morgan sniffed. "You will not visit—especially not with those girls Aoko and Ack-Ack…"

"—Akako—"

Morgan pretended not to hear. "And this won't be like last time. Catch your thief and come back."

Saguru took her chin in his hand and kissed her. "Never fear. Yours is the only charm that holds my heart—"

"Oh hush up."

Saguru put his hands on the table and rose slowly to his feet as a wince of pain flickered across his face. "I can catch a plane to Japan this afternoon—"

"Wait!" Morgan seized his sleeve. "Don't go yet."

Saguru glanced at her, then turned his face to look fully at hers. Her violet eyes were overbright and her eyebrows knit.

"I'll be okay, Morgan," he said again.

She offered a weak smile. "But tea time's not over." She poked at his tea cup. "Finish your tea first. Please."

He sat down slowly, then interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them.

"What shall we talk about, then, while you finish your tea?"

Morgan glanced at his iPhone, still lying silently on the table, while a montage of Phantom Thief 1412 played on the screen. She tore her eyes away and fixed them on Saguru's face.

"Well, we've been working on some interesting new anesthetics in the lab that might be of interest to you…"

…

_**Next Chapter: "Cards on the Table." News sure does travel fast…_

_A/N:_

_*I noticed this in the Detective Koshien case. It's clearer in the manga version; Saguru hardly ever looks at something head-on; it's usually out of the corner of his eye. The only time he faces Heiji directly is when he's confidently mocking him for rushing into the crime scene during the middle, and at the end when he's sure Heiji's deduction is wrong. I thought this was particularly evident on one of the last pages of file 54-11: when they spot the dead body in the window, Heiji and Conan's heads are raised up along with their eyes, but Hakuba's head is pointed downward, even though his eyes are also on the body. So even if it's not intentional, I thought it fit with Hakuba's defensive, reserved personality, so I used Morgan to point it out._

_*The Jodie Hopper case is from Magic Kaito manga, "Blue Birthday" Vol. 3, ch. 6. The Crystal Mother case is OVA 4, which I'm counting as canon. The other two cases are of my own invention and will be visited in flashbacks._

_* Please review! Tell me what you think of Morgan. Don't worry—she won't be appearing again. I know that nobody ever likes another person's OC._


	9. Cards on the Table

Chapter 8: Cards on the Table

"Hello, you've reached Nakamori Aoko's cell phone, please leave a message—"

"Damn it!" Kaito slammed his phone closed and smashed his other fist into the wall.

It was the morning after the disastrous _Hikari no Yama_ heist. Kaito hadn't slept. He spent the entire night watching the news, staring at the photographs of the man who had died in the explosion.

_One dead, three injured in Phantom Thief 1412's latest heist at Tokyo seaport…_

Kaito sagged against the wall, his knuckles aching and his shoulders heaving.

_ Two in critical condition…Killed sailor survived by wife, baby daughter…Officials baffled at Kaitou Kid's unprecedented violence…_

After only a moment, however, his face became smooth and impassive. He stood up straight and dialed Aoko's number again.

"Hello, you've reached Nakamori Aoko's cell phone—"

"Aoko," Kaito said after the beep. "It's around ten in the morning and this is the twelfth time I've called you. I'm coming over."

He hung up and bolted out of his apartment.

He had only gone a few blocks, however, when his phone rang. Kaito plunged his hand into his pocket and withdrew it—but the name on the screen was not Aoko's—

"Hello?"

"Is it true?" Koizumi Akako's voice came out as a throaty purr over the line. "Is it true?"

Something hollow sank ever further in the pit of Kaito's stomach. "What are you talking about?"

"Youuuuu know," Akako whispered, a horrible smirk in her words.

Kaito could have thrown up. "No, it was not me. Of course it wasn't!"

"Oh-h-h-hhh, I thought my good little lover might be getting bored with his good little life and his good little girlfriend—"

"Good-bye, Koizumi," Kaito said firmly. He closed the phone and shoved it deep into his jeans pocket, a fevered and forced intensity in his bright blue eyes as he ran up the city sidewalk.

…

He reached the university campus in less than half an hour, and sure enough, there was Aoko, as he'd expected, standing on the steps of the sociology building. But she wasn't alone.

Mouri Ran stood next to her, her arms around Aoko's shoulders. Beside Ran was Kudou Shinichi and, on his other side, Haibara Ai, and Kaito didn't like the way the two of them were looking at Aoko.

Aoko seemed to be speaking, but she noticed Kaito almost as soon as he had spotted her. Their eyes met, and she paled.

Kaito jogged to a stop before them. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled.

"Hey."

None of the four responded.

Kaito stared around at them: from Aoko, her face white and tear-stained, to Ai, her expression thoughtful and considering, to Ran, who looked frightened by the sight of him. Finally he fixed his eyes on Shinichi.

The grin disappeared from Kaito's face. His eyes widened.

He looked from Shinichi to Aoko.

She burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Kaito!"

His expression didn't change; his eyes only slid back to fixate on Shinichi.

"After the _Hikari no Yama_ exploded," Shinichi said quietly, "she called me. She'd seen where you went via the police helicopters. She asked me to help."

"I'm sorry," Aoko said in a hoarse squeak. "I panicked. I'm so sorry…"

"I did save your life, if you'll recall," Shinichi said, with a subtle tightening of the muscles in his jaw. Ran looked at him.

Kaito's eyebrow had shot up. But Ai cut in before he could speak.

"Of course, since Nakamori-chan can't be depended on to testify in court, her statement to Kudou-kun counts for little in a criminological sense. As you are doubtlessly thinking, Kuroba-kun, Kudou-kun still lacks the evidence necessary to prove what is, at present, nothing more than an uncannily accurate theory."

Aoko sniffed. Shinichi's eyes were blazing. Ran still looked frightened, but her eyes were on Shinichi. She shrank slightly away from him, and tightened her grip on Aoko's trembling shoulders.

"What's 'Pandora gem?'" Shinichi demanded suddenly.

Ai gasped.

The other four turned to look at her. "You know what it is?" Shinichi asked. Kaito looked haggardly at Ai.

Ai gave them all a pinched look.

"You know the APTX-4869 I was working on was nicknamed 'Prototype Detective,'" she said quietly, with an edgy look around her. "But it was also called the 'incomplete detective.' I had never intended to invent a poison, you know, Kudou-kun. I was working on my parents' research: to recreate the true Detective. And who was the first detective in Greek mythology?"

Four pairs of blank stares looked back at her.

Ai sighed. "Pandora was. She investigated the contents of her husband's locked chest, and accidentally released mortality into humankind."

Kaito and Shinichi had both gone very still. Ai glared at them.

" 'Pandora' was the Organization's nickname for a substance that would effectively grant the user immortal life. It wasn't a term that was popular with my branch, however. There was a rumor that someone had succeeded in creating a true Detective—or Pandora or whatever you'd like to call it—many years ago. About eight years before I left, to be precise.

"That's around the time your father died, isn't it?" Shinichi said, looking at Kaito. "Kuroba Toichi?"

"Pandora is the reason they killed my father," Kaito said. His voice was flat but his face taught as he continued, his eyes narrowed at Shinichi, "He vowed to find it first and destroy it, so Snake killed him. Snake's the guy with the handlebar mustache, if you weren't clear on that. "

"Did you know someone named Snake?" Shinichi asked Ai. "His name doesn't fit with the other alcohol-based code names."

"There were other branches," Ai said quietly. "My parents' nicknames were 'Hell's Angel' and 'Mad Scientist.' I think I remember hearing about someone named Snake, but I never knew him personally." Her voice dropped even lower and she took a step closer to the others. "Kuroba-kun, what do you know about Pandora?"

Kaito's face tightened slightly. "It's a gemstone. I'll recognize it when I see it."

"But how?" Shinichi said.

"Kaito saw Snake talking about it to someone," Aoko spoke up. Kaito shot her a glare but she ignored him. "According to the other man, the Pandora gem's supposed to glow red in the moonlight and, under the right circumstances, it 'weeps tears of immortality.'"

"It's a magic stone?" Shinichi said skeptically.  
"I don' t know," Kaito snapped. "But I have to find it before they do."

"It doesn't have to be magic," Ai said calmly. "It would be a simple feat to engineer a container to glow red at night."

Kaito cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you 'Sherry'?" he said quietly.

Ai's face turned ash-white.

"How do you know that name?" Shinichi hissed, his own eyes wide in his pale face.

"Overheard Snake mention it," Kaito said dismissively.

Aoko shot him a nasty look. "It was two years ago," she said, addressing the others, "Just before the England heist. The Crystal Amaranth Case, I think it was called. Kaito overheard Snake during that case; Snake said that if the others in the Organization found Sherry and her formula before Snake found Pandora, then he'd no longer be necessary, and they'd kill him. He said Pandora was created by people named 'Adam' and 'Eve.' That's why Kaito staged his next heist in England. He saw that things were escalating in the Organization and he wanted to get Snake out of the picture so Kudou-kun could have a clear shot at them and hopefully go back to his former self instead of being Edogawa-kun."

"Aoko!" Kaito said sharply.

Aoko rounded on him, her fists clenched. "I'm sick of this, Kaito!" she cried. Several passerby shot her odd glances and she swallowed, then continued in a lower, trembling voice: "I'm sick of lying. I'm sick of hiding the truth. I could hardly look my own dad in the eye for the past two years, Kaito. And it's getting to be too big for just us. You got shot. People died. And now these guys—our _friends_—" she gestured to Ran and Shinichi and Ai— "want to help us. They're _helping_ us—aren't you?"

"Of course we are!" Ran said quickly. "Aren't we, Shinichi?"

Shinichi looked slightly discomfited.

"How'd you know about Conan?" he said, frowning at Aoko.

"Kaito told me."  
"And how the hell does Kaito know?" Shinichi snapped.

Kaito gave him a broad smile.

The five of them fell silent, Shinichi scowling, Kaito still grinning. The crowd of students swarmed around them, up and down the stairs. Ran, Aoko, and Ai's eyes were on Shinichi.

Finally Shinichi took a deep breath, and the frown disappeared from his face. "Kuroba," he said seriously. "Let Hattori and me handle this."

"I don't think so," Kaito said pleasantly. He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, his eyes flashing. "If you'll recall, I helped you out a little bit two years ago, when you got your body back. However, you bringing your bad fish down scared mine way into hiding. Eighteen months' work went up in smoke in two weeks, thanks to you. I couldn't catch even a whiff of Snake for a year after you busted the leader."

"Work?" Shinichi repeated. "Investigation is 'work.' What you're doing is criminal, Kuroba."

Kaito shrugged. "To each his own. Anyway," he raised his eyebrows and gave a dashing smirk. "Looks like we've got all our cards on the table now, haven't we?"

Shinichi's eyes flashed. "You can't seriously think this is a game anymore—"

"A game?" Kaito said vehemently. Then he seemed to catch himself and continued, in the same calm, slick tones as before, "Sure, it's a game. And I'd prefer to stay on the offensive, instead of hiding away at my girlfriend's house, hoping the bad guys will cross my path."

Shinichi flushed. "I was protecting the people I love!"

Before Kaito could respond, his cell phone went off again. His eyes fixed in near-incomprehension on Aoko's distraught face, Kaito flipped it open distractedly, seeming to shake himself. "Hello?"

"Kaito!" It was a woman's voice, low and trembling. "Kaito, it's not true—you—I mean—"

"Mother!" Heat rose to Kaito's pale cheeks, and suddenly the anger melted away from Shinichi's face; he averted his eyes as Kaito turned away with the phone cupped to his ear. "Mother, it wasn't me, it wasn't!"

"Oh…" Kuroba Chikage sounded like she had a head cold. "Oh, Kaito—I didn't believe it—I—I thought, but…oh…"

"It's okay, Mother," Kaito said softly, his eyebrows knit.

"Oh…Kaito…"

"I gotta go."

"Kaito…please come home! Kaito, you haven't visited me in so long…I miss you—"

"Mother…" Kaito's expression was akin to one who had just swallowed live coals. "I can't. You're safer alone for a little while longer…No!" He took a distressed pace as Shinichi shoved his hands into his pockets and exchanged awkward glances with a pale-faced Ran. "I'll come home soon, I promise, Mother—no, soon. Soon! Just be careful."

He closed his phone, his expression stark. Aoko started as if to embrace him, but a quick look from him froze her in his tracks.

Ran and Shinichi exchanged extremely uncomfortable looks.

"W-we should get to class," Ran said.

"Right, right," Kaito pocketed his phone and flashed them a bland grin. "Be seeing you, then."

Aoko gave a hearty sniffle and shot Kaito a reproachful glare as she dragged her hand across her eyes. She turned to leave.

"Don't be upset, Nakamori-kun," said Ai. Her soft voice was almost indistinguishable among the bustle of students streaming up and down the steps. She folded her arms and offered Aoko a small smile. "Kuroba-kun isn't mad at you. He's just scared. But I think Kudou-kun will be of some use to him."

Aoko swallowed again. Ran smiled at Ai. Shinichi and Kaito looked surprised.

She cocked her eyebrow at them. "I've been sitting in on Kudou-kun's psychology seminars," she said calmly.

Kaito shot her a calculated look. Before could reply, however, his cell phone went off yet again.

"Hello?"

"KUROBA!" Hattori Heiji roared. "YOU DIDN'T—"

Aoko, Ran, Shinichi and Ai took the opportunity to slip off to class as Kaito roared back, "OF COURSE I DIDN'T, YOU MORON—"

"Well you better well explain what the hell I'm hearin' on the news, then, 'cause they're all sayin—"

Kaito felt suddenly exhausted. "—Look, Hattori," he interrupted, "ask Kudou, okay? Better yet, ask Haibara, she seems to know more of what's going on than all of us put together."

He hung up the phone. At the top of the steps, Aoko was just disappearing into the sociology building. Kaito stood still in the crowd, his hands in his pockets. After a moment, he turned and walked down the steps. There was a wake downtown that he really ought to attend.

…

…

_**Next Chapter: …Actually I'm not sure what the next chapter will be. I have a chapter planned that focuses on Heiji and Kazuha hanging out, bickering, and discussing the Kaitou Kid planned, but I might shorten it and make it a 'bonus chapter' and move straight to the chapter after that, called "Class Reunion."_

_So I only got two reviews last chapter. Does that mean you didn't like it? Well don't worry, Morgan's not coming back :) I created her basically because I don't like putting Saguru with Akako, Aoko, or Kaito (though I'll admit to having been occasionally amused at suggestions of the latter). I think Saguru/Ai is interesting, but I like Ai/Mitsuhiko more and it didn't have a place in this fic. Morgan basically started as a joke—he's not with Akako, but he's with a 'witchy' British girl. But then I found myself falling in love with her. So I tried to make her quirky enough that her being with the straight-laced Saguru was funny, but also complex enough that they actually made a good pair._

_So anyway please review more! Not that my happiness is linked to my ff-dot-net hits. It's just nice to get feedback :)_

_A/N:_

_Kaito's (and Aoko's, now) information concerning the Pandora Gem is from Magic Kaito volume 3 chapter 6: "Blue Birthday." Details about Ai's research, "Prototype Detective," and her parents I got from www. detectiveconanworld. com, a really great site. I've enjoyed editing it extensively myself. The Saguru Hakuba page is almost entirely my doing :)_

_Oh, and just a note: Kaito's mom's official name seems to be Chikage. That's the name on the credits of the Magic Kaito special. I just point this out because every MK fic gives Mrs. Kuroba a different name, but I didn't make this one up._


	10. Black Feather

Chapter 9: Black Feather

"…Well, Kudou-kun? Any idea who the murderer is?"

Shinichi glanced at Inspector Megure, then back at the five suspects sitting around a table at an outdoor café. He frowned and rubbed his chin.

None of them, he was sure, was responsible for the death of the thickset, balding, mustachioed man still lying on the floor between them. In fact, Shinichi was sure, everyone in the café that evening was innocent of foul play.

Behind Shinichi, Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi exchanged glances.

"Ah…" Takagi said nervously. He flipped through his notebook. "The deceased is a mister Tennotsukai Kaji, age fifty-one. A businessman, he apparently kept to himself, and had few friends. No prior run-ins with the law."

Shinichi said nothing.

Megure and Takagi looked at each other again.

"It's okay if you're stumped, Kudou-kun," Megure said. "Happens to the best of us. Maybe Hattori-kun will be able to figure something out when he comes in for his turn tomorrow."

"Hey!" Takagi said excitedly. "Maybe your cousin, Edogawa Conan-kun, could figure it out. That little boy was really smart! Why don't you give him a call, Kudou-kun?"

Shinichi's face tightened. "None of them did it," he said, gesturing at the five suspects. "Not the waitress, not Tennotsukai-san's former partner, not any of them. The killer shot Tennotsukai-san with a silenced gun as he sat at his table, then was already gone by the time the couple at the neighboring table noticed he was dead."

"So you believe their story of a man in a black trenchcoat who walked by?" Megure said.

"For now, yes," said Shinichi. He bent over and reached into the dead man's pocket. "Perhaps his cell phone…"

He withdrew a Blackberry and held it up. Pressing a few buttons revealed that a message had recently been left on the phone. He pressed play.

"Flaming Sword…this is Snake. Just wanted to let you know that your trap failed. Watch your step, or you'll find my fangs in your heel."

Shinichi lowered the phone.

"…Kudou-kun?" Megure said behind him. "Did you find anything on the phone?"  
"Yeah," Shinichi said briefly. "I know who the murderer is."

"Ha!" Megure clapped him on the shoulder. "Who is it?"

"…Part of a group I've been after for a long time now," Shinichi said, half to himself. "A pack of black crows…and a white dove."

Megure frowned. "Kudou-kun, if you have any information about this case, you have to tell us. You're not a member of the police or a licensed detective. You don't have the authority to withhold information from the authorities."

"I don't have any information," Shinichi said. He placed the Blackberry into a plastic evidence bag and handed it to Takagi. "…Just an 'uncannily accurate theory.'"

…

"Come, if you dare, to the realm of the night."

"Have ya talked to him recently?" Heiji Hattori demanded into his cell phone. He was sitting at Kazuha's desk in the dorm room she shared with Ran. Kazuha herself was lying on the rug with a notebook on her stomach and her feet up in Heiji's lap.

"Here the good dress in black and the villains wear white," Kazuha continued, reading off the notebook. She shot a critical eye at Heiji's jeans and dark green tee-shirt.

"No? Well where's he been?" Heiji said impatiently into the phone. He frowned in silence for a moment, then slammed his fist on the desk. "Damn it!" Kazuha's legs slid off to the ground as he leaped to his feet. "Whaddya mean?"

"Here the dove stands for theft and the crow for the just," Kazuha read into the silence of Heiji listening intently to his phone.

"Well obviously he's upset, but he's gonna hafta pull himself together if he's going to get this done. And he needs our help. Does he know that? We need to be in on it this time—"

"And here laughter is life when all life turns to dust," Kazuha pronounced.

"Would ya shut up?" Heiji growled. "Naw, not you, Aoko-chan. Kazuha's readin' gothic poetry again."

"I wrote it!" Kazuha snapped from the floor, clutching the notebook to her chest. "It's about Kaito-kun."

Heiji threw himself back down into Kazuha's desk chair. "…I don't _care_ if he won't like it, that's the way it _hasta be!_"

"Really," Kazuha sighed, crossing her arms over the notebook like a sulky artist. She lifted her feet and placed them back up on Heiji's leg.

"Okay. …Okay. Later." Heiji closed his phone and tossed it onto the desk, then planted his elbow on the desk, his brow furrowed in thought. Absently, his free hand fell to Kazuha's feet and he began to massage them. She kicked him. "Ow!" he cried. "What was that for!"

"You were overdue a smack," Kazuha quipped. She held her foot back out as if to ask that he continue the massage.

Heiji glowered at her for a moment, then sighed and began rubbing her feet with a thoughtful expression. "Kuroba's upset about the last heist."

"Of course he is, you moron," Kazuha said in a voice that could only be described as tender and loving. "People died."

"People woulda died if he'd been there or not," Heiji said. "Prob'ly a lot more if he hadn'ta been there."

"Yeah…" Kazuha looked on the verge of purring. "But there's also that he's havin' a fight with Aoko-chan."

"What?"

"You can talk and rub my feet at the same time," Kazuha said irritably.

"Women…" Heiji grumbled. "Explain."

"Aoko-chan's upset that he won't talk to her in public. He hardly talks to her at all, after the last heist."

"Yeah, I just got that impression—she didn' seem to know any more'n the rest of us do about Kid's next move. Well, he just doesn't want anyone to know they're together."

"That's just it. They're not together." Kazuha arched a slim black eyebrow at Heiji. "Aoko-chan's had it jus' as rough as Kuroba-kun, you know."

"What?" exclaimed Heiji. "I don't see Aoko-chan doin' cartwheels on skyscrapers while being shot at."

"If she could do that she'd be happier," Kazuha said simply.

"What?"

"Yup." Kazuha stretched her arms over her head. "But she can't do a cartwheel for her life so she's stuck at home waitin' for Kaito-kun to come to her. But he never does 'cause he's too afraid to hurt her."

Heiji shook his head despairingly. "Women. I gave up on that mystery a long time ago."

Kazuha smirked at him, her big, wide catty smile that evoked in Heiji an odd mesh of fondness and fury. "Ya haven't given up all the way, have you? Cause, you know, I'd have to kill you if you dumped me."

"You could try," Heiji scoffed. "Moron."

"You stopped rubbing my feet," Kazuha said distantly.

"You could bitch about anything, couldn't ya?" he grumbled. "Anything, at any time—"

Kazuha stretched her arms again. "Eh, things don't look so bad from right here." Heiji rolled his eyes at her.

They fell silent, Kazuha smiling, but Heiji's expression slowly darkened.

"I guess I shoulda investigated Kuroba Toichi's death more vigorously when Kid gave us the tip-off two years ago," he said. "But it looked like an accident! Plenty of magicians've died in stage accidents. There was no evidence whatsoever that it was foul play. Much less that it was connected to the Black Org at all."

"Yeah. Besides, two years ago was when we _finally_ started datin', and I wasn't about to let you out of my sight for too long."

Heiji looked down at her with a grin, and opened his mouth to respond—but his cell phone chose just that moment to go off again.

"Kudou!" Heiji spat, lunging across Kazuha's desk to retrieve his phone.

"See?" Kazuha said irately as Heiji opened his phone. "This is what I mean. It's hard on the people who have to wait, too."

Heiji shot a puzzled frown at her, then said "Great timing, Kudou," by way of greeting.

Kazuha lifted her notebook and began writing again.

"…What?" Heiji gasped into the phone. "You think Snake's behind a murder downtown today?"

Kazuha put her notebook down and watched Heiji's face.

"… 'Flaming Sword…'" Heiji said. "That's not a type of alcohol. What d'you think it means?" He listened, then frowned skeptically. "…Angels?"

"The name 'Kuroba' means 'black feather,'" Kazuha pronounced into the silence.

Heiji raised an eyebrow at her. "…No, I haven't talked to Kuroba lately. But if you're right about Snake, Kuroba's the least of our worries, right?" Silence, then Heiji continued, "Okay, okay, before you start, lemme just make a point. It comes down to this: Who d'ya wanna catch more: the Black Org, or Kid?" Heiji grinned and winked at Kazuha; she smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.

After a pause, Heiji grinned and flashed Kazuha a thumbs up in return. "Right, right," he agreed quickly. "…Aw, Kudou, don't be jealous; you know you're my best pal. …Ack!" He abruptly turned red and glanced at Kazuha, still lying bemusedly on the floor. "We weren't…you don't know what yer…"

Kazuha blinked at him. "What are you talking about?"

Heiji slammed his phone closed. "_Later, Hattori_," he mimicked, his dark brows drawn together threateningly. "I tell ya, Kazuha, that guy thinks he knows everythin' there is to know, an' that he's the only one who knows it."

"Kudou-_kun_ is really smart," Kazuha said admiringly. "But of course you're even smarter, Heiji," she added quickly as color rose even further in Heiji's scarlet cheeks. "What were you talkin' about?"

"Well, it's Kudou's day to be out with the Tokyo police," Heiji began with a slightly mollified air. "—They won't let both of us out with 'em at once. They make us take turns for some reason. I dunno why…"

Kazuha snorted. "Ha! I do."

"Really?" Heiji said quizzically. "Why?"

"Never mind." Kazuha waved her hand. "Continue."

"Well, Kudou came across a murder he thinks Snake's responsible for. Y'know, the Black Org guy after the Kaitou Kid. Kudou said he found a message on the victim's cell phone in which Snake addressed him as 'Flamin' Sword.'"

"'Flaming Sword?'" Kazuha repeated. "That's not a type of alcohol."

"Well neither is 'Snake,'" said Heiji. "Kudou thinks this branch of the Org gets their names from the book of Genesis in the Bible. Supposedly, after Adam an' Eve were chased outta the garden, an angel with a flamin' sword was sent to guard the entrance to Eden."

"Huh," Kazuha said. "Black feather…Guess it's true that there are good angels and bad angels."

"I hate that you're a religion major," Heiji scoffed. He slid out of the desk chair and sprawled himself on the rug next to her. "It just encourages you."

"…Y'know," she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "I didn't really believe ya when you said Kaito-kun was the Kid. He just doesn't seem like a criminal."

Heiji propped his chin up with his hands and snorted. "Ya, well, that's why I'm the detective and you're just the little follower."

She stuck out her tongue at him.

He continued to glower for a few moments more, then smiled reluctantly and brushed her cheek with his fingers. "God, you're pretty."

Her smile widened. "Wanna hear more poems I wrote?"

Heiji chuckled. "Only if it involves more foot-rubbing."

"Okay!" Kazuha sat up and flung her legs over Heiji's back. "I'll start reading when you start rubbing."

"Geez," Heiji groaned. "That's not what I meant." He rolled onto his back and dragged Kazuha's feet onto his stomach. "All right, I'm listening. You're so weird."

"Okay, this one's called 'The Hawk and the Dove.' It's about Kudou-kun and Kuroba-kun."

"What's with you writin' poems about other guys? What kinda bird would I be then?"

"You?" Kazuha shot him a look. "You'd be a seagull."

"What! No way. I'd be some kinda bird of prey. How 'bout an osprey?"

"How 'bout a toucan?"

"Whaaat…?"

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "Class Reunion." Heiji's worst nightmare realized…_

_A/N:_

_I imagine the dead guy at the beginning, 'Flaming Sword,' is the mysterious unnamed man for whom Snake was working in Magic Kaito, Volume 3 chapter 6._

_HEY LOOK Takagi appeared! I didn't think he was going to be in this fic._

5


	11. Class Reunion

Chapter 10: Class Reunion

"Ladies and gentlemen! I need a volunteer!"

Kaito stood in the middle of a crowded nightclub, rifling a pack of playing cards between his hands. Several young women standing close to him squealed and raised their hands. Aoko, sitting alone at a table in the back of the bar, rolled her eyes.

Kaito smiled at them. "How about the young lady in the polka dots? Would you like to help me?"

She giggled and nodded while the rest of the crowd applauded enthusiastically.

"Okay!" Kaito spread the deck of cards in both hands. "You can all see this is a normal deck of fifty-two different cards, yes? Would the mademoiselle like to examine it?"

The girl took the deck and rifled through it quickly. "Looks normal to me."  
"Looks normal to her!" Kaito announced to the crowd, taking back the deck. "And if this bright young lady says it's okay then who am I to challenge her?"

The crowd laughed.

"Okay." Kaito stacked the deck and held it in his left hand. "Now—he lifted his right hand— "Woah!"

With a bang and a puff of smoke, a dove erupted from Kaito's right sleeve. The crowd 'oohed' and gasped.

"Sorry about that, folks," Kaito grinned. "Okay—sorry, Miss." He spread the deck of cards. "Why don't you choose a card? Look at it and remember it, then put it back in the deck, okay?"

She withdrew a card from the center of the deck, cupped it in her hands and looked at it, then slipped it back into the deck. "Okay!"

"Okay!" Kaito repeated. He shuffled the deck, then tossed the cards between his hands again. "Now, if my abilities do not fail me…Your card was the ace of spades."

"Yes!" she shrieked.

"What's more," Kaito added over the 'ooh' of the crowd, "every card is the ace of spades!" He spread the deck in his hand—and indeed every card had identical ace of spade markings on them.

"How'd you do that?" the girl cried.

"That's your job to figure out," Kaito smirked. "Anyone have any ideas?" The crowd laughed. Aoko smiled to herself as she read.

"Misdirection," spoke up a strangely familiar voice.  
Aoko looked up from her notebook. She couldn't distinguish many of the faces in the crowd, but she recognized the flicker of shock that passed over Kaito's face.  
"Yes, sir!" Kaito shouted, waving his arms happily. "But of course a genius like yourself could guess my trick. Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that a world-renowned detective has graced my performance with his presence tonight!"  
Aoko started and craned her head, trying to see through the crowd.  
"Hakuba Saguru-san, care to elaborate on your deduction?" Kaito grinned.  
Now the crowd pulled back enough for Aoko to see: a young man seated near the bar, his posture slightly hunched, his chin resting on his hands. Slowly, in the sudden relative quiet of the bar, he stood.

He was tall, with longish dark-blond hair, brown eyes and, compared to the lanky Kaito, broad shoulders; his eyes were almond-shaped, his face narrow and fine-featured, and his skin very pale. He took a stiff step forward and leaned on something Aoko couldn't see.

"A rather basic trick," Saguru smirked. "Though apparently effective. The deck from which your volunteer drew the ace of spades was not the deck of fifty-two different cards which you displayed at the start of your trick. While the audience was distracted by the appearance of the dove in your right hand, you casually reached into your left-hand pocket and withdrew a new deck, comprised entirely of aces of spades. If anyone had been watching your left hand they would have plainly seen you make the switch, which is why the misdirection is the key to the trick."

The crowd was silent. Then someone booed. "It's no fun when you tell it!"

Kaito raised his hands. "Part of the challenge is figuring it out!" he chided, putting a hand on Saguru's shoulder. "You should be congratulating my good friend Hakuba-kun here. But, you do know, Hakuba-kun," Kaito grinned, "logic might tell you the right answer to a magic trick, but without actual proof, you can't do a thing about it."

The crowd laughed and Saguru, whose smirk managed to be both smug and stiff at the same time, said something to Kaito that Aoko couldn't hear. Kaito responded in a low voice and Saguru inclined his head gravely to listen. Then Kaito pointed in Aoko's direction and both boys looked her way. Aoko waved blankly. Saguru smiled politely at her; Kaito gave her a bright grin with an edge of concern in it, and winked.

Then Kaito turned back to the audience with a flourish and began pulling scarves out of a woman's ear. She shrieked in shock and the crowd burst into laughter as Saguru made his way carefully through the room to the table where Aoko sat.

She quickly began stacking her textbooks and notebooks, and had just cleared a spot for him when Saguru reached her.

"May I?" he said.

"Saguru-kun!" Aoko said warmly, jumping off her stool to embrace him. "It's been such a long time since we've seen you!"

"Two years and fourteen days," Saguru said, hugging her back; he was nearly a head taller than her. "I could be more precise, if you like."  
"That's okay," Aoko laughed, and gave Saguru a friendly squeeze. He was very thin; beneath his suede blazer and collared shirt he felt almost fragile. She let go and stepped back to look at him. "I'm so glad you're..."

"Thank you," Saguru said quietly, with a grateful nod. "But may we sit down? I'm afraid I'm not yet operating at my maximum capacity." He held up a long brown cane with a silver horse's head at the top for her to see.

"Oh!" Aoko exclaimed. "Of course! Here!" She tried to draw out a stool for Saguru at the same time that he tried to pull back hers. "No, no, let me!" she bustled him into the stool opposite hers and then hopped back onto hers.

"Thank you," Saguru said again, easing stiffly onto the stool. He put one elbow on the table and rested his chin on his fist, his other hand still clasping the cane. Aoko stared at it.

"Do you like it?" he smiled. "That's my family's crest at the top. I refused a wheelchair and crutches, so it was a nice compromise. And I think it makes me look rather distinguished, don't you?"  
"Rather," Aoko giggled, but her face was still pale. "But wouldn't it be better to avoid crowded bars for a few more weeks, then?"

"Perhaps," he agreed. "But I wanted to see Kuroba-kun before I reported in at the police station tomorrow. It wasn't difficult to find out where he works—" Saguru raised his eyebrows ever so slightly at her; Aoko felt a chill go down her spine and cast a nervous glance around the crowded bar. "—But I'm surprised to see you here, Aoko-chan," he continued. "Are you here to see Kuroba-kun's performance?"  
"No," Aoko said irritably. "His magic tricks haven't impressed me for years; I've seen every single one of them about twenty times. And besides, being fooled and bamboozled doesn't seem like too much fun to me." Her expression abruptly softened. "But..." she smiled. "Kaito looks so happy when he's performing. So I guess I like to see that. But anyway, I'm mostly studying—I often study at places that Kaito's working."

"You can study law in this noise?" he queried, pointing at her thick textbooks.

Aoko snorted. "I grew up next door to the Kuroba house. Loud noises don't bother me at all anymore."

"Point taken," Saguru chuckled.

"So did you come back to Japan because of the death on the Kid heist the other day?" Aoko said somberly.

Saguru's smirk disappeared. "Yes, partly. Perhaps I would have waited a few more weeks, to assuage my mother's concerns about my health, but when I heard the news, I knew the time was more than ripe to return. Speaking of which, where is the jewel that the Kid failed to steal?"

"At police headquarters," Aoko said. "Under heavy guard."

"And if I'm not mistaken, the police have been unable to trace the jewel's origins?"

"Yes. I remember my dad saying that it's an unusual jewel for some reason."

Saguru leaned back in his chair and placed both hands on the top of his cane. "Something monumentous is about to happen in the Kid's career, I can sense it." He twiddled the cane absently, his eyes on Aoko.

She smiled blandly. "You're obsessed with thieves! I've heard you made a lot of scamming businessmen pretty uncomfortable back in Britain."

Saguru inclined his head. "I'm obsessed with mysteries, Aoko-chan. There's only one thief with which I am obsessed. And that's the Kaitou Kid."

"Why him?" Aoko said. "I mean, I hate the Kid," she said firmly, "but it seems to me there are a lot of thieves that do a lot worse things—like the guys you rounded up in England."

"Yes, the Kid isn't really a 'bad guy,' as we would say," Saguru said musingly. He leaned his cane against his leg and interlaced his fingers beneath his chin. "That's why he's so fascinating."

"What do you mean?"

"As I've told you during our correspondence, I've acquired a focus in detective work pertaining to financial crimes. I find these much easier than murder cases. For one, I relish the challenge of tracking down the records of various trades, exchanges, and transactions. Moreover, most thefts are far more emotionally tidy than murder cases. The motive is usually the same: greed, I have found, can motivate the most mild-mannered person to stupefying depths of coercion. Other emotions are usually absent from financial thefts.

"But not in the Kaitou Kid's heists," he continued, rubbing his chin. "No one can escape an encounter with the Kaitou Kid emotionally unscathed. He has a profound effect on those around him. No one truly hates the Kaitou Kid; he merely inspires variations of awe and frustration and even affection, and the people he—touches—are often prone to act irrationally because of him."

Saguru's brown eyes flicked upwards to meet Aoko's. She stared back, feeling a blush start on her cheeks. A little too quickly, she reached for her soda and took a sip. Saguru lifted his head from his hands and watched her.

"Does that include you?" Aoko joked, still clutching her soda in one hand as she needlessly smoothed the pages of the textbook in front of her.

"It includes quite a lot of people," Saguru said pointedly. In spite of herself, Aoko looked up at him again. He was leaning forward in his seat, his eyebrows slightly raised, staring at her as intently as if she were a book he was struggling to read.

She raised her eyebrows back at him, and finally he leaned back in his seat.

"Quite a lot of people," he said again, slowly. "Fascinating…"

"You always do this, Saguru-kun," Aoko said cheerily. "You talk in half-sentences, and no one else knows what you mean!"

"Most people don't," Saguru acquiesced with a little grin. "But you're much smarter than you let on, Aoko-chan."

"Oi, Hakuba-kun!"

Kaito had appeared as if out of nowhere—as usual—and now reached around Aoko to take a sip of her soda.

"Kuroba-kun," Saguru nodded. "It's always—ah—interesting to see you."

"I often feel the same way," Kaito grinned magnanimously. "On your better days, at least." He put Aoko's now-empty soda down and clapped Saguru on the shoulder. "You're looking pretty good. That cane's a little over-the-top, though."

"If anyone can pull off having a cane, Saguru-kun can," Aoko smiled.

Saguru nodded his thanks. "I do like it myself. It's not as ostentatious as, say, a Sherlock Holmes coat, but it still makes a point. And speaking of points," he continued, his eyes on Kaito, "I had one in coming here tonight."

"Ah…" Kaito glanced over his shoulder. "It's been pretty busy tonight. I've gotta get back."

"Some other time, then."  
"Sure," said Kaito. "Hey, Hakuba-kun, while you're here, would you mind taking Aoko home?"

"What?" Aoko started. "I brought a lot of schoolwork with me—I'm fine staying until you're finished—"

"That's going to be pretty late," Kaito said dismissively. "You should get more sleep."

"My first class isn't until noon tomorrow," Aoko protested. "Even if you leave here at five am I'll still have time for six hours of sleep."

"I'd feel better if Hakuba took you home. Do you mind, Hakuba-kun?"

"Of course not," Saguru said, his voice bland but his eyes darting rapidly between Kaito and Aoko. "If the lady has no objections—"

"Kai—"

"Aoko," Kaito grinned at her, "You know it's not safe to fly around the city late at night."

Aoko opened her mouth, glanced at Saguru—paused—then closed it again.

Kaito pounded them both on the back. "Great, then it's settled."

Aoko's cheeks flushed. "You have a lot of nerve," she said softly.

"That's why you love me," he retorted in a sing-song.

Aoko slammed her textbook closed. "No," she said. "It isn't." She shoved her books into her backpack, seized it, and began pushing her way through the crowd. Saguru rose from his seat with a wince. He nodded at Kaito before turning to limp after Aoko.

"Good night, you two!" Kaito called after them. "Behave yourselves!"

Aoko whipped around, her eyes burning, one fist clenched before her—but Kaito had already vanished into the crowd.

…

_Next Chapter: "On That Day, Two Years Ago." What's wrong with Hakuba? Aoko explains to Shinichi and Kazuha._

_A/N:_

_Aoko's really smart! Read Magic Kaito, Volume 1, chapter 1 if you don't believe me._

_With the posting of chapter 10, we're now one-third of the way there! This is so exciting! Well, I'm excited :)_


	12. On That Day, Two Years Ago

*_This title is shamelessly ripped from the song "On That Day, Five Years Ago" from Final Fantasy VII, played during Cloud's flashbacks. I really like that song.**_

Chapter 11: On That Day, Two Years Ago

"When's this going to start?" Kazuha said irritably. "I have a seminar on deifications of 'luck' in ancient religions that starts in three hours."

"Well if you're 'lucky' you'll make it there in plenty of time," Shinichi quipped.

"Hm," Kazuha said. "Heiji owes me big time for this."

Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"It's still five minutes before two o'clock," Aoko said from where she sat between them. "And Saguru-kun's nothing if not punctual. His presentation will start exactly at two."

She, Shinichi and Kazuha were seated in the back of a police briefing room that was slowly filling with officers. Aoko and Shinichi had secured invitations through their connections to the Tokyo police force. Heiji couldn't make it; his Kendo coach had told him that if he missed any more tournaments—thefts and murders notwithstanding—he'd be off the team. Kazuha had agreed to attend in his stead.

"Hakuba-kun will be talking about research he's done on the Kaitou Kid for the past two years, right?" Kazuha said. Aoko nodded. "But how'd he do any research if he's been in England this whole time?"

"You don't remember there was a Kid heist in England two years ago?" Aoko asked, looking from one to the other. "It was the Kaitou Kid's first international heist since before his eight-year disappearance," she said, an ironic note to her voice.

"Saguru-kun, who was in Japan with us at the time, was ecstatic. He flew to England right away—it was spring break for us, so he even took me and Kaito with him and we stayed at his house in London. I'd never seen him so excited. He was—he was acting a little bit like Kaito does every day, to tell the truth," she said with a small smile.

"He was excited to face off against Kid on his home turf," Shinichi supplied.

"More than that," Aoko said. "He was convinced that he was going to catch the Kid that time—or more like he felt that he _had_ to. He was constantly talking about it; he'd break off mid-sentence and start another—He kept saying things like 'Kid's running from Japan—no, Kid's running _to_ England—Somebody dangerous is after the Kid—or the Kid's the one after the dangerous somebodies—he's trying to get it before they do—I have to catch him before they do.' Stuff like that, but he'd never say who 'they' were. I didn't understand it at the time because I didn't know Kaito's secret, but looking back, I realize Saguru-kun, who had always suspected Kaito— was on to the bigger truth."

"The men in black," Shinichi said in a hoarse whisper. "He wanted to catch the Kid before the men in black caught him and killed him."

Kazuha watched them silently, wide-eyed.

"Exactly," Aoko said. "Like I said, he was on to something—He started teasing Kaito, asking if he needed help." She let out a dry laugh. "I've gotta say, those first few days in England were really weird, with Saguru-kun acting hyper and talkative like Kaito, and Kaito acting withdrawn and suspicious like Saguru-kun." She smiled again, but only for a moment.

"Then the night of the heist came," she said grimly.

Shinichi and Kazuha leaned in closer as around then, police officers continued to file into the room and take their seats.

"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Aoko, " but someone—Snake, we realized later—cornered Saguru-kun on the roof of a skyscraper that night—and pushed him off."

Kazuha gasped. "He—"

"Kid managed to grab him," Aoko continued in a painfully quiet voice, "but Snake—" her voice trembled with hatred— "shot Kaito—his bulletproof vest protected him, but the gunfire tore up his paraglider. Kid lost control—" Aoko held up a hand to simulate the glider falling out of the sky. "—He managed to steer them towards a park, but Saguru-kun slipped out of Kid's hands and fell to the ground. Kid landed a few meters beyond in a lake. He hardly got a scratch, but Saguru-kun…he was hurt really badly. He stayed in England while Kaito and the rest of the Task Force and I went home. I think…For a while, people weren't really sure if he was going to make it or not. It was a few months before he could even get out of bed again."

"I do remember hearing something about that," Shinichi said. "But I didn't know—"

"Yeah." Aoko sighed. "…So, anyway, to answer your questions about what Saguru-kun been doing—"

"He's been recovering," Kazuha said.

"More than that," Aoko said with a mirthless chuckle. "From the emails I got from him, he didn't waste any time. Before he could even get out of bed—while he still must have been in enormous pain from the injuries and the surgeries—he enrolled part-time at Cambridge University and started taking an absurd amount of classes. Criminology, psychology, law—but most of his classes were finances, economics, accounting, that kind of stuff. He was considered an expert on thieves even in high school, if you remember, but I heard that in the last six months he's exposed the financial malpractice of two British companies as well as busted a small corruption ring in the House of Commons."

"Amazing," Shinichi said, while Kazuha made an ooh-ing noise.

"Yeah," Aoko sighed. "Well, that's the story. I'm sure he's been researching Kid heists all the while he's been in England, too."

"Not just Kid," Shinichi said. "He must have been researching the men in black, too, if he was that close to the truth two years ago. From the courses he's taking, sounds like he's trying to track them by their financial records."

"If he's been researching them, though, wouldn't coming back to Japan be dangerous?" Kazuha said.

"Very," Shinichi agreed grimly.

Aoko looked at her watch. "It's two o'clock."

Hardly had she finished her sentence when her father, Inspector Nakamori, opened the door to the conference room and held it open for the person behind him.

The Kaitou Kid Task Force, seated in the front of the room, rose and applauded as Saguru Hakuba, cane in hand, walked stiffly into the room, dressed in khaki slacks, a collared shirt and a blue plaid sweater vest. He gave them a pale, grateful smile as Nakamori, beaming around at the room, approached the podium.

"It is my pleasure to announce that a greatly missed friend and ally has finally returned to the Kid hunt!" Nakamori declared into the podium's microphone. "Hakuba Saguru has returned from England, and is going to talk a little about his research there."

The Task Force cheered again; many of its members beamed proudly at Saguru. Most of the other officers in the room were rather less ecstatic; smug, straight-laced Hakuba Saguru wasn't one to make friends easily, but every officer in the room had some sort of admiration, grudging or no, on his or her face as Nakamori stepped away from the podium and Saguru, hobbling with his cane, maneuvered himself into his place.

"Thank you, everyone, for your kind welcome," he said. The Task Force let out one last cheer, and two spots of color appeared on Saguru's pale cheeks. "Thank you," he said again. "I'm honored. I promise this won't go to my head."

The assembled officers chuckled, some a little more unkindly than others. Shinichi snickered; Aoko rolled her eyes. Kazuha frowned.

"I don't get it!" she whispered.

"You know how arrogant Kaito, Heiji-kun and Shinichi-kun are?" Aoko whispered back. "Saguru-kun's just as bad. Except his is the sweater-vest-and-polite-smirk sort of arrogance."

Kazuha giggled. "And Heiji's the baseball-cap-and-loud-boasts sort of arrogance."

"Quiet down!" Shinichi hissed at them. Aoko and Kazuha exchanged amused glances, but then turned back to the front of the room.

"The testimony of my colleague, Kudou Shinichi, who was present at the most recent heist, has confirmed the theory that I posited over two years ago," Saguru was saying from the front of the room. "That the Kid's motive for stealing high-profile gems is neither personal profit nor the challenge and attention. Not that a personality like Kid's needs much more reason than this." He smiled briefly, but then his brown eyes narrowed and he continued in a grave voice, "but I believe that, although Kid would have us believe that he is playing a game, in corroboration with the exchange that Kudou-san observed on Saturday night, his true motive is to expose and undermine a mysterious and very dangerous criminal syndicate."

The room was quiet. Shinichi and Aoko were both leaning forward on their seats. In the front of the room, the Task Force's faces were particularly attentive.

"Even given Kudou-san's testimony as to the presence of a third party at the dock heist, the idea of the Kid as some sort of vigilante or anti-hero may seem incredible." Saguru smiled again. "And you are well within your rights to be skeptical. Perhaps you think my long absence has blunted my skill, or perhaps even that I have developed a soft spot for the Kid. After all, he did save my life two years ago.

"It is an interesting complication," he continued with the same wry smile on his face "Anyone who's worked on a Kaitou Kid heist can't help but feel some degree of emotional connection with this unique criminal," Saguru continued, his eyes lingering on Aoko as he scanned the crowd. "He churns up the emotions of all who come in contact with him; those who pursue the Kaitou Kid are often compelled to reassess their previously held notions of right and wrong.

"That fascinating phenomenon notwithstanding, I believe I have uncovered sufficient evidence to suggest that the Kaitou Kid's rather outrageous heists are actually intended to lure out a dark criminal syndicate that seems to have no other name than that—Dark Syndicate," he clarified, looking around at the audience with a small smile. "Though if anyone has a better name I'd be glad to hear it."

"Black Organization," Shinichi muttered, his eyebrows raised in a small smirk. "But whatever, Hakuba-kun."

Kazuha shhh-ed him as Saguru continued, "Now I confess, much of this is hypothesis. The Dark Syndicate is masterful at subterfuge, and has covered up evidence of its crimes so thoroughly, so—rather elegantly, in fact—that until we get our hands on hard evidence of their existence I cannot claim to anything more than informed speculation. But of one fact I am absolutely sure." He lifted his gaze to the back of the room and met Aoko's eyes again.  
"The Kaitou Kid must have a very good reason for what he does," he said.

Aoko paled. Silence resonated in the room once again; a few people glanced back to try to see what Saguru was looking at.

"And now," Saguru said, his voice loud in the silence, "if I may, I will run through the evidence thus far, beginning with financial evidence I have uncovered during my research in the past two years and ending with Kudou-san's testimony."

…

"That was all pretty much on the mark, wasn't it?" Shinichi asked Aoko.

"Yeah," she breathed. "Pretty much."

The three of them watched Nakamori enfold Saguru in an embrace that would have made even a healthy person wince. Saguru staggered slightly when he released him, but Nakamori flung an arm across Saguru's broad, thin shoulders and guided him out of the room. The Task Force followed them out, then the rest of the officers started to drift out of the room as well.

Shinichi, Aoko and Kazuha rose.

. "I want to go back and discuss something with Inspector Megure," Shinichi said.

"Well we have class," Kazuha said. "So we'll just head back to campus, then."

Shinichi frowned. "Is that a good idea? Walking alone…" he looked at Aoko.

Kazuha threw an arm around Aoko's shoulders. "We'll be fine! I am an Aikido champion after all. Catch you later, Kudou-kun!"

"Okay…" Shinichi said. "Bye."

"Bye, Kudou-kun," Aoko said.

Shinichi turned around and jogged out of the room. Aoko and Kazuha left more slowly, and walked through the police station to the street outside.

On the sidewalk, Kazuha glanced over at Aoko. The shorter girl walked with her shoulders slightly slumped and her eyes on the ground.  
"Hey, cheer up, Aoko-chan!" Kazuha said. She elbowed her. "It's going to be okay."

"I hope so," Aoko said in a small voice. She sighed. "I can hardly believe it's been almost four years since Kaito became…you know. And two years since I found out. I feel like I've been living a lie since then. I hate lying."

Kazuha frowned sympathetically. "Huh. Two years ago was when Ran found out Kudou-kun's secret too, when we beat the Org—or that part of the Org. But that made her happier."

Aoko laughed bitterly. "Yeah. F or me, knowing the truth only made it worse. Isn't that terrible?" She looked up at Kazuha. "…Kazuha-chan…I feel so old. Not like the little girl I was in high school. I feel like—I feel like Kaito's the main character in this story, and I'm just the leading lady. Is that weird?"

"I don't know…" Kazuha said uncertainly. "I've never felt that way…I think. Well, I didn't know about Kudou-kun's secret and Heiji's involvement in the investigation until it was almost all over…but—" She laid a hand to her cheek, her brow knit. "That night when Ran and I were waiting for them to come back, not knowing if they would—that was awful. If we had thought it was just a regular mystery case we would never have been so worried, but—"

"Yeah." Aoko gave a squeaky laugh. "Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?"

"Hey, don't be like that!" Kazuha squeezed Aoko's shoulders. "Why don't you come over to our room for a little while? I have a class soon, but Ran should be there. And then when I get out we can all go to dinner. Sounds like you need some no-boys-allowed time."

"That sounds good," Aoko smiled faintly. "Living alone with my dad next door to Kaito, I never had enough no-boys-allowed time."

"Then it's settled," Kazuha said firmly. "And you can tell me and Ran all about it."

"It's a long story," Aoko said, but she was smiling more widely now. "It…well, it starts just over two years ago…"

…

…

**_Next Chapter: "The Kaitou Kid's Memories." The first of three chapters of flashbacks that will finally clarify some stuff. Sorry for how convoluted it's probably seemed thus far! First is "The Kaitou Kid's Memories," then "Aoko's Memories," then "Kaito's Memories." _

_I realize I could probably have consolidated these last two chapters…hm…Oh well, I'm sorry for the slow pacing. I think it's going to start picking up in the next few chapters._


	13. The Kaitou Kid's Memories

Chapter 12: The Kaitou Kid's Memories:

The Case of the Crystal Amaranth

_Just over two years ago…_

"Well, well, well," said Hakuba Saguru. "Looks like it's going to be a crowded heist." He smirked politely as his eyes raked the group of people standing silhouetted in the moonlight of Beika Central Park by the shore of a small pond. "Inspector Nakamori…, Nakamori-chan…and of course, Kuroba-kun. How convenient."

"I know, right?" Kaito grinned. "Aoko gets me front-row seats to see the Kaitou Kid in action!"

Aoko glared at him. "You're here because you're a magician and you're supposed to be helping my father catch the Kid."

"Right, right."

"And Sleeping Mouri Kogoro-san," Saguru continued. "It's an honor to meet you again, sir. And Mouri-chan." He nodded at Ran. "And of course, Conan-kun." He crouched down in front of the little boy next to Ran. "I hear you've been taking my place at quite a few Kid heists while I've been in England."

"Heh heh…" Conan laughed and rubbed his head. "I just wanna be a detective, like Uncle Kogoro and Heiji-niichan and Saguru-niichan!"

Aoko elbowed Kaito. "See, why can't you be like that nice little boy and want to be a detective instead of a thief geek?"

"Ow! Lay off me, woman! Just because you have a secret crush on the handsome Kaitou Kid—"

"_What—!"_

"Have you two met before?" Saguru said. He stood up and smiled at Aoko and Ran. "Nakamori Aoko, this is Mouri Ran. Mouri-chan, my classmates, Nakamori Aoko and Kuroba Kaito. They are also seniors at Ekoda High School."

"Hey," Kaito said, still rubbing his side. "You go to the same school as Kudou Shinichi, right?"

Ran blushed. "Yeah—I know him."

"Where's he been?" Kaito said. "He almost caught the Kid once, at the clock tower heist two years ago—then he just vanished."

"He's away on an important case," Ran smiled. By her side, Conan looked suddenly fascinated by his sneakers.

"When's he getting back?" Aoko said. "I'm sure if Kudou Shinichi teamed up with Saguru-kun and Sleeping Kogoro and my dad, they'd catch the Kid in no time!"

Kaito burst out laughing so abruptly that Aoko jumped.

"What's wrong with you!" she snapped, and punched his arm.

"Ow!" Kaito gasped, still laughing. "You're going to injure me—"

Ran and Kogoro chuckled uncomfortably. Conan rolled his eyes and then covered it by scratching his head.

"But," Ran said, looking at Kaito. "It's funny—what's that boy's name again? Kuroba Kaito? Doesn't he look kind of like—"

"Okay, okay!" Inspector Nakamori interrupted. He glowered at them. "If you're all going to stand in on the heist, you have to do as I say! Now, the Kaitou Kid has announced that he's coming for the blood-red garnet known as the Crystal Amaranth."

"Why are we out in the open in the middle of Beika Central Park?" Kogoro groused. "Shouldn't we be inside, where it's safer?"

"The park is safer, when we're up against the Kaitou Kid," Saguru said with a little smirk. "Can you guess why?"

"Because the Kaitou Kid uses a glider!" Conan spoke up. "It's the same principle as the Purple Heels case, where the Kid claimed to teleport. Suzuki Jirokichi placed the heels in the street at a four-way intersection, because the Kid needs to be high up to get enough speed for his glider. But Kid ended up using the surrounding buildings to launch himself up with a pulley. So this time, Inspector Nakamori's put the target in the middle of the park, where there are only a few trees, none of them taller than twenty-five meters. This way, Kid can't hang-glide away."

"Wow, what a smart little boy!" Aoko said.

"Ah…" Conan laughed. "I talk to Shinichi-niichan a lot. He's always talking about the Kaitou Kid."

"Is he?" Ran said with a little frown. Behind her, Saguru and Kaito were both watching Conan with thoughtful looks as well.

"_Anyway_," Inspector Nakamori said irritably. "May I continue?" He pointed to a safe sitting on the grass in the center of the circle of people. "The Crystal Amaranth is in this safe. It's up to us to make sure the Kid doesn't get his hands on it."

"The safe is water-proof," Aoko interjected. "So if Kid gets too close, don't hesitate to throw it in the pond!" She gestured to the park's small lake, a few meters from where they were standing.

"Thank-you, Aoko," Nakamori nodded. He glared around at the others. "Any questions?"

Kaito raised his hand. "Yeah—Can I go pee?"

"Wait, Kuroba-kun!" Inspector Nakamori cried. "You can't leave now—Kid could be here any minute!" Behind him, Saguru gave a rather pointed cough. Conan stared at Saguru.

"Sorry!" Kaito winced. "It's an emergency—I'll be right back, I swear!"

"Oh, Kaito, just go," Aoko snapped.

"Be right back," Kaito said. "Don't start without me!"

He started to jog around the pond, to the long bulrushes and thick clumps of trees on the opposite bank.

When he knew the others on the opposite shore couldn't see him through the long grass, Kaito crouched low and slipped further up the bank to the treeline. When he reached the closest thick-trunked tree, he produced a mechanized pulley device from his pocket and attached it to the tree trunk with a small drill. Then he attached a long , thin, almost invisible cord to the pulley, and clipped the other end to the back of his belt.

Then he unzipped his fly.

"Even the Kaitou Kid's gotta pee sometimes," he chuckled to himself.

"…Adam, Eve, Pandora…"

Kaito froze. A voice—a terribly familiar voice—was echoing through the trees. He rezipped his pants and crawled backwards to the long grass at the edge of the lake, taking care to keep the voices in earshot:

"…Didn't think Pandora was real." This was a woman's voice, harsh and bored.

"Of course it is," said the first voice. Kaito bristled. "Adam and Eve succeeded in synthesizing it years ago. But they got cold feet and hid it, and then those _fools_ killed them before it was found."

"Uh-huh."

"I've almost found it. It's taken me ten years, but it can't be much longer."

"What's the hurry, then? Why call me in ?"

"Because I need some cooperation from your branch," Snake growled. "They've cast me and what's left of the Eden branch off. They're focused on Sherry and her work now. And if they find Sherry and her formula before I find Pandora, they'll kill me."

"Hm," said the woman's voice. "So Gin is humoring you. I'm a loan for your last desperate attempt at usefulness."

"Shut it, Chianti. The Kaitou Kid is not to be underestimated—"

"God…" the woman groaned. Kaito heard the sound of a gun being cocked. "First Gin won't shut up about this 'Kudou' person, and someone named 'Edogawa,' and now you're on about the Kaitou Kid. Everyone's going crazy."

"Will you shut up?" Snake growled. "Come on, let's go, further back into the trees so they can't see us from across the lake."

"Just tell me who I'm allowed to shoot."

"Get up a tree where you'll have a clear shot at the Kid when he approaches the safe."

Kaito scrambled backwards on his hands and knees to the long grass by the lakeshore. Then he stood up and walked around the lake's edge until he was past the grass and could see across the pond once again.

Inspector Nakamori, Aoko, Saguru, and Conan were all watching him.

Kaito waved at them, then stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered back around the lake. In his pocket, the cord unraveled and fell invisibly into the grass.

"Have you finished peeing?" Aoko said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Oh, yes." Kaito gave them an odd smile and pointed to himself. "Kuroba Kaito has been relieved."

He strode over to the safe holding the Crystal Amaranth and crouched down in front of it.

"What are you doing, Kaito-kun?" Nakamori said.

"Just checking the lock." Kaito spun the dial. "Hm."  
"…Kuroba-kun," Saguru said after a moment. "If you think—"

"Shh!" Kaito waved a hand at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Conan was looking, not at him, but across the lake. The little boy tapped his glasses, and his eyes widened.

Kaito sighed. "It would probably take me another few minutes to figure this out. So, I'm just going to use a focused charge."

"What?" said Aoko.

"A really, really small bomb."

Conan gasped. His eyes were still fixed across the lake.

Kaito popped a small object out of his sleeve and stuck it on the safe door.

Then, several things happened at once.

Conan shouted "Everybody get down!" just as Saguru leapt at Kaito. The boys rolled away as a bullet whizzed through the air where Kaito's head had been moments before, and Kaito's bomb destroyed the lock on the safe. Its door swung open.

"Sniper!" Conan screamed. "Chi—"

Saguru had Kaito in a Judo hold—but another bullet whizzed past and grazed his shoulder. He flinched, startled, and Kaito threw him off.

Saguru rolled away, clutching his arm. Kaito tossed a flash bang to the ground, and quick-changed into his Kaitou Kid costume even as he leapt back towards the open safe. He was still clamping his hat onto his head when his free hand closed around the Crystal Amaranth.

"K-Kid!" Nakamori yelled from the ground, shielding Aoko with his body from the gunfire over the lake.

"Where's Kaito?" Aoko screamed from beneath her father's arm.

Kid pressed a button on his belt. The cord he had nailed to the tree opposite the lake tightened, then began reeling him in; he zoomed across the lake, shattering the clear reflection of the moon on the water, his white cape billowing out behind him—

—Out of the corner of his eye he saw Saguru leaping to his feet, and Conan already racing around the lake as fast as his short legs would carry him—From the trees, a woman screamed in shock, and a bullet shot through Kaito's hat—

Kaito unclipped himself from the zip line just before he collided into the tree at the opposite bank. Less than ten seconds until the little boy reached him—but Conan was headed not to where the Kid had landed, but into the trees from where the bullets had come.

With his left hand Kaito tossed a smoke bomb; a huge cloud of pink mist immediately engulfed his side of the lake, and with his right he fired three decoy Kaitou Kid dummies into the air. The three dummies zoomed away on propeller-powered gliders in opposite directions.

Finally, as the pink gas began to dissipate, Kaito stripped down to his underwear, rolled all of his Kaitou Kid gear into a ball around the Crystal Amaranth, secured it with his belt, and tossed it into the lake. Then he pulled his Kuroba Kaito clothes back on, bound his own wrists and ankles with pre-prepared loops of rope, threw himself down in the mud and reeds at the shore of the lake, and cracked a capsule of knock-out gas over his own face.

He had the wherewithal to be sure to fall backwards, so his nose would be above the water, and then darkness claimed him.

…

"…Kaito? Kaito!"

He was rather cold. And wet. Kaito shivered and opened his eyes.

"Wha…"

"Kaito!"

Aoko was holding him in her arms.

"Kaito, are you okay?"

"Mmph…"

"Hang on, son. We'll get you free."

Kaito raised his head from Aoko's lap. Inspector Nakamori was pulling the remains of a cut rope from off Kaito's wrists, and Saguru was cutting ropes off his ankles. Both were knee-deep in the pond water among the reeds and long grass. The lower half of Kaito's body was submerged as well.

"Kid disguised himself as you!" Aoko cried. "That jerk!"

"Can you stand, son?" Inspector Nakamori said. He seized Kaito under the elbow, and he and Aoko pulled Kaito to his feet. Saguru stood up, pocketknife in his hands, staring at Kaito. Their eyes met for a moment, then Kaito bent over and coughed.

"Come on, Aoko, let's get him out of here," Inspector Nakamori said.

"Th-thanks," Kaito shivered as they waded back to shore. "I feel kinda…"

"Kid must have knocked you out while you were relieving yourself," Inspector Nakamori said excitedly as they climbed back to shore. Kogoro was waiting for them with a group of frazzled-looking police officers. Ran stood behind him, Conan clutched firmly in her arms. "He disguised himself as you and just walked up to the safe to unlock it!"

"Wow…" Kaito said groggily, still leaning on his and Aoko's shoulders. "The nerve of that guy…"

Kogoro chuckled darkly. Saguru and Conan were both staring very intently at Kaito.

"But who were the other people?" Ran said, clutching her hands together. "The people who were shooting at us!"

"Maybe the brat could tell us," Kogoro said irritably, glaring at Conan. "Seeing as he went running after them."

Conan grinned weakly. Ran hugged him more tightly to her chest.

"This park is crawling with police officers," Nakamori scowled. "They can't have gotten far. Vigilantes, maybe, or crazed Kaitou Kid fans."

"No," said Conan.

The others stared at him.

"What, Conan-kun?" Ran said.

"Ah…" Conan scratched his head. "I think maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions, right? I mean—it could be another big mystery!" He spread his arms and bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. "Maybe it's like in Sherlock Holmes, when Holmes realized that a lot of the petty crime in London was actually being organized by a really smart, really bad guy named Moriarty! So instead of solving each little mystery as it came along, he had to seek out Moriarty himself to stop the bad stuff from happening in the first place!"

"Ran," Kogoro said irritably. "I think it's past the brat's bedtime."

"Yeah, Conan-kun," said Ran with a slightly troubled smile. "Your imagination is a little overactive, isn't it?"

"Um…" Conan rubbed his head. "I guess so, Ran-neechan."

"Well," said Nakamori, as Kaito unslung his arm from his shoulder and stood up. "Kid got the jewel…and mysterious men in my jurisdiction…but at least no one was hurt."

Aoko clutched Kaito's arm and nodded.

Kaito and Saguru were now staring at Conan.

…

The Kaitou Kid, dressed in Kuroba Kaito's pajamas, sat cross-legged on Kuroba Kaito's bed, his monocle in his hand. It was four in the morning.

_So Snake's only a peripheral member of the organization…the 'Eden branch'…He can't find Pandora so he's on his way out….And something about Kudou—that teenage detective who's been missing for months?_

The Kid sat motionless on the bed, gazing at the poster of Kuroba Toichi that disguised the entrance to his secret room.

_Kudou…Edogawa…another formula by someone named 'Sherry'…eternal youth…"_

The Kid's eyes widened. _Could it be…?_

He stared into Kuroba Toichi's eyes, as if waiting for the poster to speak.

"…Getting kinda hot over here, isn't it?" the Kid said slowly. "I think these guys are bigger than I thought—and looks like that Kudou guy is mixed up in it, too." He frowned. "Could Kudou be part of them?"

The Kid closed his eyes, then opened them again. "No…if—if Edogawa _is_ Kudou…then there's no way he's in league with them, the way he acted." He chuckled. "Looks like I'm not the only one in over my head."

He got up and walked over to the bedroom window. "If Snake's desperate enough to risk killing Hakuba—a Police District General's son—things must be bad in the organization."

The cold September moon gleamed placidly back at him from the sky. The Kid glared at it, then turned back around to face the poster of Kuroba Toichi.

"Misdirection," he said. "I'll stage a heist in England. Make Snake think I've found the gem. He'll follow me out of the country—that should give Kudou some time."

The Kid pulled closed the blinds of the window. "This is gonna have to be one hell of a show."

…

…

_Next Chapter: "Aoko's Memories." About the trip to England._

_A/N:_

_GAH I suck at action scenes. I much prefer writing dialogue. Sorry…I think the next chapter is much better…_

_Has Conan ever seen Chianti in canon? I can't remember…_

_Anyway, just as a note: an amaranth is a mythical flower of a dark red to purplish color that is supposed to never die. _

_Please remember to leave me a review :)_


	14. Aoko's Memories

Chapter 13: Aoko's Memories

"Saguru-kun!"

"Hey, what are you calling him for—"

"Shut up, Kaito! Hey, Saguru-kun, come over here!"

"Nakamori-chan…I was just headed to the library. I believe I'm on a breakthrough with regard to the Kaitou Kid's—"

"You can't spend every recess in the library!" Aoko got up and pulled Saguru over to the corner of the courtyard, where Kaito sat with fellow high school seniors Momoi Keiko and Koizumi Akako. "It's a beautiful September day. Sit down with us!" She yanked Saguru's school jacket and he sat down rather abruptly between Kaito and Akako, a surprised expression on his face.

Kaito nudged him with his shoulder. "She got us both, huh?" he smirked.

Saguru recoiled from his touch and glared at him. "An impressive feat. You're not an easy one to capture, are you, Kuroba-kun?"

"We're playing the question game!" Aoko interrupted with a stern look in Kaito and Saguru's direction. "We ask each other deep, personal questions. And it was my turn! You guys ask me a question."

"Okay, I've got one!" Momoi Keiko said brightly. "Aoko, what's the one thing you couldn't forgive?"

"Couldn't forgive?" Aoko repeated thoughtfully. Then she frowned. "I hate lying. If someone I was close to lied to me—I don't know if I could forgive it easily."

Keiko beamed and tossed her brown pigtails over her shoulder. "That's why I'm your best friend. I'd never lie to you, Aoko!"

"What!" Kaito exploded. "That's a lie right there!"

"What do you mean?" Keiko cried.

"How long have you known Aoko?" Kaito demanded, pointing a finger at her.

"Since…since third grade…"

"Ha!" crowed Kaito. "I've known her since we were five years old—" he held up five fingers to elaborate— "We met outside the clock tower at the center of town during one of my dad's magic shows. And you have _so_ lied to her, Keiko-chan! You lied to Aoko when you were setting up that surprise party for her fifteenth birthday two years ago!"

"W-well of course I had to tell a few fibs for that!" Keiko protested. "It was a surprise party!"

"Are you saying you've never lied to Nakamori-chan, Kuroba-kun?" Saguru smirked, his eyes narrowed in amusement.

"Never!" Kaito declared. "I would never lie to Aoko!"

"Hm," Saguru said. "Then you have a rare gift for vague understatements."

"What does that mean?" Aoko said, her brow furrowed but her eyes sharp as she looked between Kaito and Saguru.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "My job is pretty stressful. Maybe dear old Hakuba-kun is worried about my health, and thinks I should talk to you more."

"That's one way to put it," Saguru said. Akako laughed shrilly.

"You never do talk to me about your job," Aoko said. "What is it you do again?"

Kaito looked from Saguru to Akako to Aoko. "I'm a delivery boy," he said firmly. "I relay messages for some of my father's old associates."

"Oh, that's right," Aoko said. Saguru sighed and rested his chin on his hands, and Akako laughed behind him.

…

_Ding!_

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, the 'seatbelt' light has been turned off, meaning you are free to get up in the cabin. However, we do advise you to keep your seatbelts on at all times during the flight—"

"All right," Kaito said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and sprang to his feet; his head hit the low overhead storage compartments of the airplane but he hardly flinched. "Aoko, trade seats with me."

"But I wanted the aisle seat!" Aoko protested. "Sit back down, Kaito!"

"What's the matter, Kuroba-kun?" Saguru said from the window seat on Kaito's other side, his elbow resting against the windowsill. "You want to be able to make a quick getaway, is that it?"  
"No," Kaito growled. "It's just that I won't be able to make it to England if I have to sit next to _you_ the entire way. Aoko, change seats with me!"

"Kaito!"

"Was I bothering you, Kuroba-kun? I was only asking if you needed help—"

"Please, Aoko! That's the magic word, right? Please!"

"You've been looking very stressed lately, Kuroba-kun. I was only wondering—"

"Aargh!"

"Fine!" Aoko cried. She unbuckled her seatbelt and stood; she was so short that even standing up straight the top of her head only just brushed the storage compartment. "If it'll shut you two up, then fine! Move over, Kaito!"

Kaito threw his arms around Aoko. "Thank you!"

"Oh stop it!" She wriggled out of his embrace and plopped down into the middle seat, her cheeks slightly pink. Saguru smirked faintly at them, then turned to stare out the window. Kaito poked the little television screen on the back of the seat in front of him. A map popped up, with a miniature airplane hovering over Tokyo. Their flight path was outlined in yellow across the globe to England.

"It's so far…" Kaito moaned. He shifted restlessly in his seat. "How long is this trip going to take?"

"How precise of an answer are you looking for?" Saguru said, reaching into his jacket for his pocketwatch. "Because—"

"Oh never mind!" Kaito snapped. "I don't want to know."

"Why Kuroba-kun," Saguru smirked. "I was only trying to help."

"Tch…"

…

"GO, GO, GO!" Inspector Nakamori shouted. "After the Kid!"

He and the cadre of officers in the room raced out of the room that had once held the British crown jewels, Kid's target. Aoko, however, stayed where she was by the window, peering out at the London cityscape.

"What's that?" she said suddenly, pointing up to the top of a nearby skyscraper.

The last officer paused in the doorway. "Miss Nakamori?"

Aoko reached over and grabbed the officer's binoculars off his belt. "There's someone on the roof!" She pressed the binoculars to her eyes and trained them on the skyscraper.

The small, thin figure of a young man was barely distinguishable on the skyscraper roof, silhouetted against the large full moon, his hair and his jacket whipping in the wind.

"It's Saguru-kun!"

"What's he doing over there?" the officer behind her said. "Kid escaped in the opposite direction!"

"There's someone else on the roof," Aoko breathed.

"Is it Kid?"

"No…"

The second figure was too bulky to be Kid. It had appeared in the middle of the roof and now approached Saguru, who took a step backwards. Then the figure moved to stand against the moon as well; it was a man, wearing a fedora and a long coat.

Aoko twiddled the dials of the binoculars to try to zoom in further, and lost sight of them. When she focused in on the roof again, Saguru and the other man were standing much closer together; the other man raised something long and thin and gleaming, and aimed it at Saguru. Aoko gasped, but Saguru charged the man before he could fire. They struggled for a moment, then Aoko saw the glint of the gun as Saguru tossed it aside and threw the man to the ground.

"What's going on?" the officer demanded.

"The guy attacked Saguru-kun!" Aoko muttered. "But he knocked him down—"

The other figure suddenly rose back into view—he swung at Saguru, who took a step back, towards the roof's edge, almost out of the moon's light—and the dark man lunged forward—he and Saguru collided—Saguru stumbled and fell backwards—

"Saguru-kun!" Aoko screamed. She pounded the window with a fist. "Saguru-kun!"

…

"Miss Nakamori! Please wait!"

Aoko raced down the lamplit London streets, the police officer on her heels, intermittently shouting into his radio and calling after her.

"Miss Nakamori!"  
Aoko closed her eyes and ran faster. Saguru falling—the Kaitou Kid, a white triangle against the dark sky—the glint of metal from the roof—Kid and Saguru colliding mid-air, then spiraling away—

She raced into the street; a taxi cab almost hit her but she barely noticed; she reached the other side of the street and leaped over the gate to the park where she was sure they had—surely it was here that—Aoko let out a strangled cry and hurtled into the park and down the path, which wound its way through the trees and—then it took a sharp turn and the trees broke.

Aoko skidded to a halt, half-blinded by the sudden moonlight. She was standing before a lake, whose surface was choppy with ripples that splintered the moonlight reflected on it. And crouched on the shore, his white suit dripping with water, was the Kaitou Kid. The tattered remains of his white cape was draped beside him and a dark shape lay before him.

"Hakuba!" Kid was shouting at the shape. "Hakuba!" Then he looked up and saw Aoko. Their eyes met.

The Kid leaped to his feet. "Help him!" he shouted.

Aoko only stared. Behind her, the sound of footsteps was suddenly loud on the path.

Kid leaped away into the trees, just as a group of officers charged into the clearing. Now the moonlight fell unimpeded on the form lying on the ground; Aoko could see blonde hair and a pale face—

"Oh my—"

…

"Ladies and gentlemen, as the seatbelt light has been deactivated, you are now free to move about the cabin…"

Aoko stared numbly ahead of her. Kaito sat in the aisle seat by her side. A stranger sat in the window seat.

_Ask him…ask him_…

She glanced at Kaito. He sat slouched in his seat, his eyes dim and red-rimmed, staring haggardly into space. Aoko looked back down at her hands.

_Thirty minutes…in thirty minutes I'll ask him._

But thirty minutes came and went. Aoko tapped at the television screen on the seat before her and called up a movie.

She couldn't focus on the movie, however; she was surprised when the credits began to roll. Her throat constricted. She started another movie.

But after the second movie her throat closed again. Mutely she tapped at the screen and stared at the little map. The plane was on the western edge of China.

_When we reach the Chinese shore…_

She watched the plane slowly inch its way across the map. Far too soon, its little nose touched blue.

_Okay._ Aoko clenched her fists. _When the pilot announces we're about to land—then I have to—_

She sat very still, her heart hammering in her throat, as on the screen the plane inched inexorably onward. Finally:

"Ladies and gentlemen—"

"K—"

"Aoko."

Aoko and Kaito glanced at each other, surprised. Then Kaito frowned.  
"Later," he said quietly, as the other passengers began to bustle about them. "I'll tell you everything later."

She looked at him. "Okay, Kaito," she said. "Later."

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "Kaito's Memories." Last of the three flashbacks. _

_I'm home on Spring Break this week, so that's why I'm posting so frequently. We're almost to the halfway point! _

_I also might write another short 'bonus chapter' about Hakuba waking up in the hospital after his injuries. That would talk a little bit more about how he met Morgan, his girlfriend._


	15. BONUS CHAPTER 2

BONUS CHAPTER

_Saguru's Memories_

"I think he's waking up!"

A soft, worn hand stroked his brow.

"Sa-chan? Master Saguru?"

He recognized her voice, but her name escaped him. He felt so heavy…

"Miss Morgan, will you get the doctor? I think he's waking up."

"Of course!"

A second voice, one that sent tingles through his chest. Or was that pain…? He heard a door opening and closing. He opened his eyes.

"Sa-chan!"

It was his housekeeper, bent over him, her fingers stroking his hair. Her face seemed blurry. Everything was white.

"What…" he choked. He wasn't sure if he was speaking in English or Japanese…but that wasn't important. "What time is it?"

"It's five thirty-five and…twenty-someodd seconds," she said. "In the morning. On October twelfth. You've been unconscious for four days, Sa-chan."

Saguru's breath caught. "I—"

"Lie back, sweetie." The hand on his forehead pressed him back gently into the pillow. "Look, I'll show you your pocket watch. Here." She held up a heavy golden watch in front of his face. Saguru squinted at it. The ticking arms of the clock seemed to be going too fast for him to note their precise time. That had never happened to him before…

"Five thirty-six and two point fourteen seconds," he whispered. A tightness in his chest seemed to lessen as he said it.

"That's right, Sa-chan," his housekeeper said. "It's going to be okay."

Saguru tried to shift on the bed—and found, to his surprise, that the slightest movement was astonishingly painful. He blinked. But at least the numbers were back in his head—the ticking of the clock, like a second heartbeat in his mind. It was hard to focus on them.

"Do you remember what happened, Sa-chan?"

Saguru looked back up at his housekeeper's face. She touched his cheek, then continued smoothing his hair. He frowned slightly.

"…Kid…and someone else…" His eyes widened. "I fell—Ah!" He had tried to rise again, and his face turned abruptly ash-white. He gasped.

"Don't try to move, sweetie!" his housekeeper said. Her voice caught, and Saguru struggled to focus on her face again. He realized for the first time that there was a bandage covering most of his forehead.

"You're very hurt, darling," his housekeeper said. Her voice echoed strangely. "Your mother was here earlier, and your father's on his way from Japan to see you too. And your old friend, Morgan, was here as well…she's an intern at this hospital…She was very glad to see you, Sa-chan."

"Morgan…?"

"So you see, you're going to be perfectly fine, love."

Saguru grunted faintly. He had lost track of the time. He wished she would hold up his watch again so he could see the ticking numbers...like a second heartbeat in his mind…

…

When he awoke again, the room was empty. The first thing he saw was a large analogue clock mounted on the white wall opposite his bed.

Twelve thirty-one and fourteen-point-oh-one seconds.

He smiled faintly. His housekeeper must have arranged for that…but why wasn't he in his bedroom…?

The door opened. Someone gasped.

"Saguru!"

It was a woman's voice, with a British accent. With some difficulty, Saguru cast his eyes to the left, towards the door.

A young woman in doctors' scrubs was standing in the doorway, holding a tray of medical-looking objects he couldn't identify. She had black hair with dark purple streaks in it that was tied up in a bun behind her neck, and her dark blue eyes, behind black, thick-rimmed glasses, were fixed on him.

"You're awake!" she said in English.

"…Morgan…"

The girl's expression softened. "Yeah. What a coincidence, huh? After all these years…I'm interning at this hospital."

Saguru grunted. "It's…it's nice to…"

"Hey, don't try to talk." Morgan stepped into the room to his bedside. "You're rather banged up, aren't you?"

"Feels that way." He looked down his own body, covered by a white hospital bedsheet. "What's—"

"We didn't expect you to wake up so soon, so I'm not sure I'm supposed to be telling you all this right away," Morgan said, following his gaze. "But—you've sustained some pretty serious injuries, Saguru. Broken bones—fractured spine—concussion—internal bleeding—you're not going anywhere for a while."

His face paled.

Morgan took a step closer and set her tray down on the table next to his bed. "But hey, cheer up, Saguru. You've got me looking after you."

Saguru looked up at her. "And I suppose if anyone can put me right, it's the famous sorceress Morgan le Fay, right?"

"Absolutely right!" Morgan said, her brow furrowed with relief. "And if anyone can s—can rebound from grave injuries, it's certainly the blockheaded detective Sherlock Holmes!"

"Hm." Two spots of color appeared on Saguru's white face. "Doesn't that make you my Dr. Watson?"

"Hey, if I remember right, it was your turn to be my Igor, last time we played," Morgan said with a laugh. "You can't get two turns in a row out of me."

Saguru chuckled weakly and closed his eyes. "That was…more than seven years ago…"

"Yeah," Morgan said softly. "Before we got sent to separate boarding schools. Then you moved to Japan."

Saguru opened one eye. "You mean, before I started acting like a prick and you stopped talking to me. _Then_ we went to separate boarding schools."

Morgan gave a weak laugh. "Yes. I wasn't going to mention that, though. I don't think it's proper bedside manner."

"What an excellent doctor."

"Oh, I'm not planning on being a doctor," Morgan said. "I'm going to be a researcher. Biochemistry. After all, science is the only real sorcery in the world, isn't it? I'm going to be the first person to successfully change a human into a toad and back again."

Saguru chuckled again. "You haven't changed."

Morgan smiled. "You have. A bit."

"Have I?"

"Sure. You've gotten a lot more handsome."

He snorted. "Forgive me if I disbelieve you. This must be another aspect of your proper bedside manner."

"No, I'm not lying!" Morgan crouched down by his side and put her elbows on the bed. "Really. Bandages and all."

He looked at her. "Morgan…I was a prick, all those years ago, wasn't I? If you'll excuse my language."

"Oh, Saguru." She touched his arm. "Your parents had just divorced. I should have been more understanding."

"I ruined your twelfth birthday party."

"I was being unreasonable."

"Your unreasonableness is one of your finer qualities."

"Really? I was hoping you'd compliment my hair."

"The purple?" Saguru raised an eyebrow. "…Usually I find hair dye distasteful…but somehow it works for you."

She smiled at him, and Saguru found himself smiling back. But then he coughed.

"Oh, dear!" Morgan jumped to her feet. "I'm here to change your IV drip. Then I've got more rounds. But I'll come back—I have an afternoon break, and then I'll stop in before I leave. Your housekeeper's coming back in an hour or so as well. You can't lift books or anything of the sort, but she's stocking an iPod up with music and books on tape—Sherlock Holmes cases, I'm sure—for you to listen to. But you should be sleeping as much as you can for now."

"I suppose it was she who had the clock put on the wall?" Saguru said, watching as Morgan bent over the wires hanging by his head.

"Certainly. That was one of the first things she said. 'Master Saguru likes to always know what time it is.'" Morgan laughed. "You haven't changed so much after all." She took a wet washcloth from the end table and wiped Saguru's sweaty brow with it.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"Sure."

"Do you think…do you think I could have a television in here as well?" Saguru said. "I want to watch the news—see what happened with the heist—"

"The doctor doesn't want you excited just yet," Morgan said. "I'm not sure he'll want—"

"But how did the heist go?"

"…Phantom Thief Kid didn't get the jewel," Morgan said hesitatingly. "He…saved your life. And don't worry," she added hurriedly. "You're under a lot of security here, so whoever tried to kill you on the skyscraper won't be able to get to you in here. You'll be okay."

"Thanks." Saguru's eyes slid closed for a moment. Then he opened them again. "And my traveling companions? Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko?"

"They were sent home," Morgan said. "Over a week ago. But they left you cards. And they want to call you as soon as you're able to talk again."

"Mm." Saguru's eyes fluttered again. "Thanks."

"You'll have to tell them that, when you see them again."

"No, I mean—" He looked at her. "Thanks."

"Oh." She blushed. "…I'm glad you're okay, Saguru."

"Yeah." He closed his eyes again. "Me too…"

Morgan stayed where she was for a moment, watching Saguru sleep. A soft smile appeared on her face. Slowly she reached out and brushed his forehead. Then she picked up her tray and moved back towards the door.

"I'm glad to see you again…Saguru."

…

…

_I kind of enjoy writing Saguru's time obsession as if it was an OCD fixation. I kind of enjoy Saguru in general. What a great guy ^-^_


	16. Kaito's Memories

Chapter 14: Kaito's Memories

_A few months later…_

"Well, what d'you think of Tokyo?" Kaito asked Heiji.

Heiji took off his baseball cap and raked his fingers through his hair. "Ah…Guess I've been seein' a lot of Tokyo recently, between hangin' out with you an' with Kudou. Yeah, it's all right."

The two of them were walking down the sidewalk one January Saturday afternoon, a few blocks from Kaito's high school.

"In fact," Heiji continued, replacing his cap, "I think I'm gonna be comin' to college here."

"Really?" Kaito chuckled. "I thought Osaka is better than Tokyo in every possible way." "Almost every possible way," Heiji corrected. "Tokyo University just happens ta have a slightly better criminal justice program. Add that to the fact that my dad's in Osaka, and it makes perfect sense for me to go to Tokyo University. Plus," Heiji slugged Kaito in the arm. "I'll be closer to you an' Kudou. That should be pretty fun, huh?"

"Fun for me, at least," Kaito retorted, with his best wicked grin. "So Kudou Shinichi's in Tokyo?" he added.

"Of course! Detective of the East an' all that. Hey, you've never met Kudou, have you?"

"Haven't I?" Kaito said idly, folding his hands behind his head.

"Uh…" Heiji glanced at him. "No, right?"

"Huh. Feels like I have."

Heiji scratched his head. "You met his cousin, Edogawa Conan, right?"

"Oh, that's right, that's right."

Heiji laughed nervously. "Yeah, that must be why. Y'know, the three of us should hang out some time."

"Yeah." Kaito glanced over at Heiji, his blue eyes flashing. "That sounds fun."

"Geez," Heiji rolled his eyes. "You two are pretty similar, come ta think of it. I've only met you a couple o' times, Kuroba, but I feel like I know you a lot better than I do." He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe 'cause you're so similar to Kudou?"

Kaito snickered. "Okay…Hey, wanna grab a coffee at this place? It's really good!"

"Sure. So anyway, where are you goin' for college?"

"I'm not going."

"What? Why not?"  
"Eh." Kaito shrugged as he pushed open the front door of the coffee shop. "I've got other stuff to do."

"What other—"

A gasp from one of the coffee shop's patrons cut Heiji off.

A petite girl with long brown hair was standing at the counter, frozen in the act of paying the cashier. Her eyes narrowed. Without a word, the girl scooped her coffee off the counter and pushed past Heiji and Kaito, taking care to shoulder the latter as she stormed out of the shop.

Kaito didn't react, only stumbled back a step as she pushed him. He didn't turn around, either, only put his hands in his pockets as the door slammed shut behind her.

Heiji stared after her. "What the hell was that?"

Kaito shrugged. "A friend from school. We're having a little fight." He ambled up to the counter and smiled winningly at the cashier. "I'd like a double-chocolate mocha frappe, please."

"Geez." Heiji said, following him. "What'd ya do?"

"What drink do you want?"

"Just a soda. I don't like coffee. What'd ya do?"

"Ah.." Kaito passed Heiji his soda and tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently as the barista mixed his drink. "I lied to her about something important."

"Well you should say you're sorry," Heiji said wisely, uncapping his soda. "That always works with Kazuha."  
Kaito snorted. "You only realized a few months ago that you're in love with your childhood friend, and now you're giving me love advice?"

"'Love?'" Heiji repeated delightedly. "So she's more than a friend, huh? Wow… You better apologize quick or you're gonna be in serious trouble on Valentine's Day next month."

"Shut up, Hattori." Kaito accepted his drink from the barista and took a grateful sip. "Ah…I love chocolate. What were we talking about?"

"About how you're an idiot," Heiji smirked. "You should tell her you're sorry, whatever you did."

Kaito shook his head and strode out of the coffee shop, sipping at his drink. "I can't do that. Lying's how I got in trouble in the first place."

Heiji followed him out. "Lyin'? Geez, what'd you tell her?"

"Well," Kaito ambled onward, so Heiji had to jog to catch up. "Not so much 'lied' as 'failed to tell the truth.' There's a difference."

Heiji let out a dark laugh. "Whatever you say."

…

…

_Next Chapter:"Self-Defense." Back to the present storyline! This time, Aoko refuses to leave Kaito's show early—but he was right when he said it's not safe…_

_A/N:_

_I ship Heiji/Kaito! Haha, just kidding. But I do imagine they'd have an epic bromance._

_I had other scenes planned for this chapter, but I realized that this was the only necessary one. As opposed to the 'Saguru's memories' bonus chapter, which is all entirely unnecessary. _

_I'm assuming there's such a thing as 'Tokyo University' and 'Osaka University,' but the truth is, I don't know anything about higher education in Japan. For the sake of the story please accept this simplistic rendering of the DC/MK characters' college experiences :)_

_Note on the drinks: Heiji just doesn't strike me as a coffee drinker. And it's established in canon that Kaito's got a sweet tooth. _

_Also—it wasn't intentional, but the chapter numbering for these three flashback chapters worked out really well. Remember to go by the numbers in the chapters, not by the ff-dot-net numeration, since the 'bonus chapter' throws it off._


	17. Self Defense

Chapter 15: Self-Defense

"I guess that's why I never asked you if you were the Kid," Aoko said aloud.

Kaito glanced down at her. "What?"

It was almost four in the morning; this time, Aoko had refused to leave Kaito's performance early, and at the risk of an all-out fight in the middle of the bar—Kaito had spotted more than one mop with which she would have had no qualms about beating him—he had sullenly acquiesced, and proceeded to ignore her for the rest of the night.

Now, they were walking through the dark city towards the university campus and Aoko's dorm. "Because I didn't want you to lie to me," she said.

"Hm," Kaito grunted.

"But not lying is no longer enough," Aoko continued. "Now we have to tell the truth."

"There's enough truth out there already," Kaito grumbled. "'One truth,' in particular."*

Aoko frowned. "…Oh, that's right," she said after a moment. "I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you since Saguru-kun visited us the other day. I think he knows, too."

"He's 'known' since high school," Kaito snickered. "But even if logic tells him the right answer, without actual proof he can't do a thing about it."

"I mean, now he knows that I know," said Aoko with an irritated glare.

Kaito glanced at her. "How does he know that?"

"At the bar the other night—he said something about how everyone who the Kid touches gets emotionally involved with him somehow—and I guess I blushed a bit—" Kaito rolled his eyes— "and then at the police conference, he looked right at me and told the officers that he was certain that the Kid had a very good reason for stealing." She looked up at Kaito. "I guess he figures that if I know, and I'm still with you, then it must be pretty good."

"Geez…"

Aoko's brow crinkled. "And I already told you what he said at the police briefing the other day. He knows you've got a mysterious criminal syndicate as an enemy."

Kaito yawned widely. "That guy doesn't scare me."

"Oh yeah?" said a new voice from around the street corner. "Maybe you should be scared of me."

Kaito stopped short and flung an arm in front of Aoko as three black-clad figures rounded the corner before them.

"My, my," said the first one. "It's awful late for a date, isn't it?"

"Who are you?" Kaito demanded, pushing Aoko behind him with his hand. She clutched the back of his shirt. "Are you with Snake?"

The three figures laughed. "Who's Snake?"

"Must be a rival gang," another said.

"All the more reason to hit him up, if he's part of another group."

They moved closer, into the light of the nearest street lamp, and now Kaito and Aoko could see that the three figures were young men, wearing black sweatshirts and jeans.

"Hand over your wallet, tough guy," said the first.

Kaito threw back his head and laughed. "What is this—you guys are just a bunch of teenagers." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Shove off, morons."

The closest teenager plunged a hand in his pocket. "Who's a moron now?" he snarled.

Before he could withdraw his hand, Kaito took a casual step forward, his left hand still in his pocket, and with his right seized the teenager's wrist.

There was a flash of light. The teenager yelled, and a gun clattered to the ground by Kaito's feet. Aoko, still clinging to the back of his shirt, screamed.

"What the—" The teenager gasped, staggering backwards into his fellows. His hand was twisted behind his back, the strap of his watch fastened around his pants' belt loop. "How did you do that?"

"I'm a magician," Kaito said genially, with a friendly smile. "Don't screw with me."

The young man gaped at Kaito. From behind him, the other two swore loudly and charged forward. Kaito extended a leg and tripped one—but the other was not aiming at him—

This teenager seized Aoko around the shoulders and pressed his own gun to her head. "Don't move!" he shouted at Kaito.

Kaito froze. He slowly withdrew his hands from his pockets and raised them to chest height as the other gang member rose to his feet and the first finally unhooked his watch from his belt loop.

"Not so tough now, are you?" the teenager with Aoko grinned. "Now hand over your wallets and cell phone. Now." He looked appraisingly at Aoko. "And how 'bout you leave us your girlfriend, too?"

Aoko squeaked. "K-Kaito—"

"No." Kaito smiled blandly at the teenager. "I'll give you morons one more chance to get out of here. But if you hurt her, you're dead."

With his left hand fingers Kaito started to reach into his sleeve—

"Cut it out!"

The teenager threw Aoko to the ground and jammed the muzzle of his gun into Kaito's forehead. "I see you reaching for something. You make a move, and I swear to God I'll blow your brains out."

Kaito glared down the gun into the gangman's eyes. Slowly, he uncurled his palms and splayed his fingers.

The teenager grinned uncertainly, and twisted the gun against Kaito's forehead. "I'll give you to the count of three to hand over your wallet and get out of here."

Kaito grinned back. "I'll give you to the count of three to apologize to me and disappear."

The teenager snarled. "One…"

"Kaito, please, just give it to him," cried Aoko.

"Just shoot him, man!" shouted one of the others.

Kaito narrowed his eyes. The first boy's gun hand shook. "…two…" His hand trembled more violently still, and then a gunshot cracked in the silence of the sleeping city.

Kaito fell to the ground. The teenager reeled back and dropped the gun, clutching his hand.

"Ow!"

He stared from his bleeding hand, to Kaito on the ground, his eyes wide and confused as he scrambled to sit up, to Aoko, still on the ground, with a gun in her hand as well.

"Back away," Aoko squeaked. She leveled the gun at the next of the gang members and rose to her feet. "Or I'll shoot to kill."

"She shot me!" cried the first teenager, cradling his bloody hand. "She shot my hand!"

"I said back away!" Aoko shrieked, as one of the other gang members made to reach into his pocket.

Kaito rose slowly, staring at Aoko. She inched forward and kicked the second dropped gun into the gutter, her own still trained on them.

The three teenagers turned and ran, one still clutching his bloody hand. Kaito and Aoko stood motionless, her eyes on them, his on her, as their footsteps faded into the city's shadows.

Then Aoko let out a shaky sigh. She bent down and replaced the gun in her hands on the ground, near the other fallen gun, then sat down on the curb and reached into her purse for her cell phone.

"…Aoko!" Kaito began. "What —"

"I'm calling the police," she said tightly. "To report an attempted mugging."

He seized her by the elbow. "You shouldn't have been using a gun! You should have left it to me!"

She shot him a look as she raised the phone to her ear. "I know how to use a firearm. My father taught us both how to shoot when we were little, if you remember."

"Aoko—"

"Hello, officer? I'd like to report a mugging…The perpetrators possessed illegal handguns—they left two at the scene of the crime. I acquired one of them and wounded a mugger in the hand to prevent him from killing my friend—Yes, we're in the university district, at the corner of…"

Kaito gritted his teeth and paced away as she spoke into the phone. His gaze fell on the blood spattered on the sidewalk. He raised a hand to his own forehead.

Aoko hung up. "They're on their way. They want us to wait here until they arrive."

He rounded on her. "See! This is why I wanted you to go home early with Hakuba the other day—it's not safe out here—"

"Safe?" she squeaked. "I know that, Kaito!Why do you think I've been spending so many extra hours at my internship with the police station? Why do you think I've been practicing my shooting so much?" She stepped up in front of him and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Because I _know_ it's not safe, and I'm worried about you."

"Aoko—" He seized his hair in his hands and stared haggardly down at her. "This is why—this is exactly why—I don't ever want to see you touching a gun." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, let's get out of here."

She jerked out of his grasp. "No. I'm going to wait for the police. You go if you want."

"Aoko!" Kaito shouted. "You don't understand! This was just a couple of scared teenagers—the real bad guys are so much worse! I didn't want you to come tonight—I didn't want you to stay as late as you did. This is why we can't go places together, or act like we're together—this is exactly why! Don't you get it? This is why I was, as you put it, so 'cold' to you in high school after I became the Kid! You idiot!" He grabbed her arm again. "So we're going back to your dorm, right now, and until Pandora is destroyed—"

"Listen, Kaito," she interrupted, and suddenly there were tears in her eyes. "I'm not stupid, okay? I might not be the class clown and the teacher's pet all in one, like you. I might not be charming and pretty and suave. I'm not a—an internationally wanted genius thief-magician. But I'm not stupid!"

"I don't think you're stupid," Kaito said, rather bewilderedly. "And I don't think you're not pretty, either—"

"Then why won't you let me help you?" She was crying openly now.

"Because I don't need your help," he said. "It's my father, my responsibility. My life on the line. I don't want you risking yourself—"

"You mean _sacrificing _yourself?" Aoko squeaked. "That's what you're saying. Is there a part of yourself that doesn't expect to survive this, Kaito?"  
"Don't be stupid!" Kaito snapped. "I don't want to die. But if it comes to that—I don't want you involved. We're talking about you, not me."

"Kaito…" Tears streamed from Aoko's eyes. "You're not your father, you know. And you don't have to be like him to be a worthy person."

"What are you talking about?" Kaito scoffed. "Of course I—"

"I'm sure your dad would want you to be happy—"

"Yes, Aoko, but Pandora has to be destroyed. I thought you understood that."

"I understand that, Kaito!" Aoko cried. "What you _don't_ understand is that your survival is just as important as Pandora's destruction!" She seized his shirt lapels and stood up on tiptoes to look him straight in the eye. "I love _you_, Kaito. Not your father, and not the stupid Kaitou Kid. I love _you._"

Kaito stared at her. "Aoko…" His eyes flicked from her tear-streaked face, to the two guns gleaming dully in the small pool of light cast by the streetlamp, and back to her eyes. He could see his own reflection staring back at him in her wide, dark pupils. A police siren wailed faintly in the distance.

"That'll be the cops," Aoko sniffed. She released Kaito's shirt. "Coming to—"

She gasped as Kaito leaned forward and embraced her.

"K-Kaito…"

"Aoko," Kaito whispered into her hair, gathering her more closely to him. He pressed his face into her shoulder and muttered, "I'm…I love you, Aoko."

Her arms slipped around his waist and they held each other tightly, as in the distance the sirens grew louder. Kaito's breathing was just slightly too quick against Aoko's neck. She was trembling.

Kaito squeezed her one last time, then drew back and looked down into her eyes. "…So…is tomorrow afternoon okay? Or—I guess it's this afternoon."

"For what?"

"For writing the last note." He raised an eyebrow at her, a faint smile playing across his lips. "I figure we should write it together, huh?"

A shaky smile appeared on Aoko's own face. "Yes," she said as the police car pulled over next to them. "Let's write the last Kaitou Kid note together."

…

…

_Next Chapter: "The Kaitou Kid Note."_

_A/N:_

_When Kaito says "there's enough truth out there already…one truth in particular" he's referring to Shinichi, whose name means "one truth."_

_I don't know much about Japanese law, but I do know that it's illegal for civilians to own firearms._


	18. The Kaitou Kid Note

_**22 March: I edited the Kid Note below! Take note! (hee hee, I made a pun)**_

Chapter 16:

The Kaitou Kid Note

"No."

"Aoko! Why not?"

"Because it's rude and spiteful. You're just doing it to poke fun at my father."

"No, I'm not. How many times have I explained this? The Kaitou Kid pulls pranks to distract people from his real objective! People have come to expect a magic show from the Kid; Snake'll know something's up if we're totally serious on this heist."

"Ah…"

"Come on, Aoko. Trust me."

"Fine. But remember to include something about how you respect and admire my dad and the rest of the Task Force!"

"No! What a girly thing to say! I'm not writing that."

"Kaito!"  
"Ow! Okay, fine! God, women are intolerable—"

"What did you say?"  
"I said I love you, idiot."

"I thought so. Jerk."

"We're still going to deliver the note my way, right?"

"Kaitoooo—"

"Come on! It's important. It's a good idea. It's a hint."

"It's arrogant."

"That too."

"Rrrgh…Okay, fine!"

"Thank you! Geez, this is taking way longer than I thought…"

…

One evening three days later, Inspector Nakamori Ginzo was getting into his car to go home from work, when he saw this scrawled with a Dry-Erase marker on the inside of his window shield:

To my most dedicated pursuer:

It's time.

I have nothing but respect for the agents of justice,

and I will miss the good times I've had

competing with those who pursued me

with upright and honest intentions.

But I am afraid that, if all goes well,

the next heist will be my last.

I have one last performance for you,

and one last theft.

It ends at the place where it all began.

Respectfully yours,

The Kaitou Kid

P.S. Remember to buckle up, Inspector!

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "Trust." Shinichi and Ran have a moment._

_A/N:_

_Super-short chapter, I know. Well, chapter 18 is ridiculously long, so maybe that'll make up for it. _


	19. Trust

Chapter 17: Trust

Shinichi sat alone in his dark dorm room, hunched over at his desk, his face tinged blue by the pale light of his computer screen. So intent was his focus that when the door opened, he jumped in surprise.

"Who is it?" he said, squinting against the sudden light from the hallway.

"What're you doing?"

Shinichi blinked again. Ran was standing in the doorway, a smile on her face. She shook her head and flicked on the lights.

"Why do you prefer to work in the dark?"

"You don't need the light on to read the computer screen," Shinichi said as Ran walked over and stood behind him. "And…when I sat down it was still light outside." He checked the computer clock and grinned. "Woah—a little later than I thought."

Ran laughed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "What're you working on that's kept you occupied for hours and hours?" she said, peering over his shoulder.

"The Kaitou Kid," Shinichi said, some of the levity gone from his voice. He tapped the screen. "Kuroba Toichi died twelve years ago, during a sold-out magic show performance at the Tokyo Theater in Beika. Apparently, he was performing a trick where he was to vanish from the stage and reappear a few minutes later. Well," Shinichi clicked on the screen, and Ran leaned forward over his shoulder as several pictures popped up. "He did reappear, I guess."

Ran gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth; Shinichi, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, let out a little choking noise.

"Oh, sorry, Shinichi!" Ran loosened her grip and leaned forward to look more closely at the computer screen. "What happened?"  
"The official story was that it was a malfunctioning trap door," Shinichi said grimly. "He reappeared in a pool of blood."

"And Kaito-kun saw this?" Ran whispered, her eyes fixed on the bloody pictures.

"Yeah," Shinichi said darkly. "And Aoko-chan too, I think."

Ran backed away from the desk. "That's terrible." She sat down on Shinichi's bed.

He swiveled around in his chair to face her, his face taught and his eyes boring into the ground.

After a moment he leaped up and began to pace. "Kuroba," he said. "I should have pursued it when I had the chance. Maybe we could have closed this case years ago."

"How could you have, Shinichi?" Ran said. "There was never any evidence that Kuroba-kun was the Kid."

"But I could feel it," Shinichi insisted, pounding a fist into his palm. "As soon as I met him—It was the same sensation as when the Kid's around—it's like I can hear him laughing inside my head."

Ran said nothing, only continued to watch him stride across the room.

"It's the exact same feeling!" Shinichi persisted. He halted in the center of the room, just outside the moonlight. "All his tricks, his jokes, his little word games—that attitude—There could only be one person as—as aggravating as him."

"I agree!"

Shinichi and Ran whipped around.

Heiji was standing in the still-open doorway with a glower on his face. "Wish he'd stayed in England. Ever since she went to that police thing Kazuha won't shut up about how smart he is."

"Who?" Shinichi said, bemused. "Hakuba?"  
"Yeah," Heiji said as if it was obvious. "Apparently he's doin' this stupid 'wounded soldier' act now, too. Well, Kazuha sure fell the hell for it—"

"I was talking about Kuroba," Shinichi interrupted.

Heiji frowned. "Kuroba? He's not aggravatin'! I like him! I thought you were talking about Hakuba."

"I wasn't."

"Well why were you talkin' about Kuroba as if he were Hakuba?"

"I wasn't," Shinichi said exasperatedly. "We were talking about how we shouldn't have trusted Kuroba."

"_You_ were," Ran said quietly from the bed.

"Kuroba's all right," Heiji said dismissively. "Anyway, you've seen the latest Kid note, right?"

"Yeah," Shinichi said. "I don't know what to make of it yet, though."

"Same."

"Why don't you ask Kaito-kun?" Ran suggested.

Shinichi let out a delicate cough that sounded suspiciously like a snicker.

Ran put her hands on her hips. "Well, why don't you go see Hakuba-kun about it?" "What!" Heiji yelped. "Why should we?"

"Because he has more experience with Kid heists," Ran said. "Why not?"

"I don't think that will be necessary," Shinichi said with a little grin.

Heiji snickered. "Look at this—Kudou wants to solve the mystery all by himself. You won't even let your dear old Holmes-freak buddy help you."

Shinichi shook his head. "I just can't believe that you'd rather hang out with an internationally wanted criminal than a fellow detective."

"Kudou," Heiji said seriously. "Hakuba's like you—except worse. How could anyone stand that?"

"Well Kuroba's like you, but worse," Shinichi retorted. "And I didn't even think that was possible."

"You two!" Ran snapped. Both boys jumped and looked around at her. "You're both ridiculous." She crossed her arms and glowered at them. "It's clear that Heiji-kun feels the same way about Hakuba-kun that Shinichi feels about Kaito-kun. Irrational dislike!"

Shinichi and Heiji, who had been nodding, both frowned. "It's not irrational!" they protested.

"Just talk to Hakuba-kun!" Ran insisted. "You want to solve this case, right? Before any more people get hurt?"

The boys frowned. Heiji looked irritated, Shinichi grave. But after a moment he nodded.

"Let's go tomorrow afternoon."

"Ahhh…" Heiji groaned. "Fine." he turned around and stalked to the door.

"Oi, Hattori!" Shinichi called.

Heiji leaned on the door handle. "What?"

"You're not really one to talk when it comes to the 'wounded soldier' act," Shinichi smirked.

"What the hell does that mean?"  
Shinichi shrugged. "Just that it seems like you get hurt a lot—that's all I'm saying."

"That's ridiculous."

"I do remember Kazuha saying she knows a lot of doctors because of you," Ran said with a smile. "She said she's made some good friends while sitting in waiting rooms for you."

"Traitor," Heiji growled while Shinichi snickered. "Whatever. I'm outta here; go back to cuddling or whatever it was you two were doin' before I got here."

"Bye, Hattori-kun," Ran said.

He clicked off the lights and slammed the door behind him.

Shinichi chuckled again, the sardonic smirk still on his face. His expression quickly fell into a ponderous frown, however. He rubbed his chin and resumed pacing in the still-dark room. Ran watched him silently.

"Do you remember your first case against the Kaitou Kid?" she said after a moment.

"Of course," he said. "The clock tower, when we were sixteen—it was only a few weeks before I was shrunk. That bastard claimed he'd steal one of the biggest and oldest buildings in the city, but he only created an illusion that made it look like the clock's hands were gone. And drew a larger crowd than an Okino Yoko concert," he quipped. "Not that impressive."

"You didn't think that way at the time," Ran said, frowning at him. "You liked him. I remember because the Kaitou Kid was all you'd talk about for weeks afterward. You said he had staged the heist to prevent the clock from being destroyed by a corrupt landscaper, and you were really impressed with him. You said he was a 'good guy,' and 'really smart' and that you wanted to meet him. It sounded like you were already best friends with him!" Ran laughed, her eyes on Shinichi. "I was almost jealous!"

Shinichi frowned thoughtfully at her. "Mmhmm." He looked out the window above Ran's head, at the half-moon hanging high in the sky. "My dad named the Kaitou Kid, too, you know. The first Kid—Kuroba Toichi—who apparently taught my mother all she knows about disguises. Dad was the first one to call thief number 1412 the 'Kaitou Kid. '" He sighed. "Remember that strange man who gave us the riddle in first grade, who turned out to be the Kaitou Kid—Kuroba Toichi? He said the Kid was my little brother."

"Ah…" Ran said. "And Kaito-kun _is_ younger than you, you know."

Shinichi looked at her. "What?"  
"Your birthday is in May, and his is in June. You're one month older than him."

"Hm," Shinichi said. He stood very still, his shoulders hunched, rubbing his chin and frowning at the floor. The moonlight shone on his thoughtful face, in his blue eyes, on his black hair with the indomitable cow lick sticking up in the back. In spite of herself, Ran smiled at him.

"Shinichi…"

He looked up at her. His expression abruptly darkened. "But my next case against the Kaitou Kid—surely you remember when he impersonated you? When he went after the Suzukis' black pearl?"

"Yeah," Ran smiled. "Of course I do—"

"I had him trapped!" Shinichi said. "We were head to head—but then he showed me his bra strap and made me think he'd left you _naked_ somewhere—"

"Oh, Shinichi," Ran giggled. "But he didn't—he didn't even take my dress; he made himself a replica—"

"That doesn't matter!" Shinichi snapped. "It was a dirty trick. He's always doing things like that—disguising himself as you was a direct challenge to me—"

Ran's cheeks flushed. "You know what I think?" she retorted. "I think this is more about your pride than Kaito-kun's attitude, Shinichi. I watched you when you were Conan, more closely than you probably think I did, because I loved Conan, Shinichi. And I noticed that, during Kaitou Kid heists, you would go _crazy_. And it got worse with each passing case. When you'd deduce his presence or when he'd make a move, your eyes would bug out –you acted like someone had slapped you across the face. I even thought you were choking once or twice, but before I could get to you, you'd have run off after him. Everything he did, you took personally, Shinichi."

"What should I have done?" Shinichi protested. "I was always fair to him—if he did me a favor I'd return it—but I swore I'd put him in jail. I told him so to his face, and I'm not about to go back on my word."

"Your word!" Ran repeated. A tear slid down her cheek as she clenched her fists. "A decision you made in half a second, in an emotional moment—that counts as your word? You're always doing this, Shinichi. You make decisions on the fly, and then you never go back and reconsider what you've done—how it'll affect other people." She sniffed.

He looked at her, his eyebrows contracted.

"You're talking about that night, aren't you?" he said quietly. "That night in my parents' study…after Tropical Land…"

"Are you going to tell me that your first thought was that I couldn't be trusted?" Ran cried, tears now falling freely down her face. "No—you were embarrassed, Shinichi! You were embarrassed, you were scared, and you saw two names on the books behind you, and you told me that your name was Edogawa Conan. That was that."

She pressed her face into her hands and sobbed quietly in the dark room, her skin pale in the faint moonlight. Shinichi watched her silently, his back to the window and his face shadowed.

"…Ran," he said after a moment. "I am sorry. I'm still sorry. I've apologized so many times…and I'll keep apologizing, if that's what you want me to do." He made a motion as if to touch her, then refrained. "I thought you had forgiven me."

"I thought I had too," Ran wept, rubbing her eyes. "But it still hurts."

Shinichi sat down next to her and put his arms around her. She let him draw her close and rested her head against his shoulder.

"It's a small part of me," she sniffed, "and it gets smaller every day…but it's still there, Shinichi. And seeing Aoko-chan and Kuroba-kun makes me think about it. I don't know why, really…"

In spite of himself, Shinichi chuckled dryly.

"What?" Ran mumbled, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"Sorry," Shinichi whispered, his cheek resting against Ran's head. "Just something Hakuba said at the police conference. That anyone who gets mixed up in the Kaitou Kid's business can't escape emotionally unscathed." He chuckled again. "Guess it's true."

Ran craned her head up to look at him. "Has it made you think?" she asked.

"About what?"

"About…I don't know. Anything."

"Well…" Shinichi brushed a lock of Ran's hair behind her ear. "I was thinking … remember what Haibara told us, the day after the heist at the docks? That 'prototype detective' was also called 'Pandora' because in Greek mythology, Pandora was the first detective? Well, in the Greek story, Pandora looks inside a box her husband told her never to open, and thereby accidentally unleashes sin into the world. So, I always thought of Pandora as the first thief, not the first detective."

Ran giggled. "Maybe they're not that different after all, then."  
"What?" Shinichi protested. "How can you—"

"Shinichi," Ran interrupted. She sat up, her hands still on his chest, and looked him in the eye. "Listen to me for a second."

His hands fell to her elbows, then he took one of her hands in his and pressed it to his chest. "I'm listening, Ran."

"It was…h-hard for me to trust you again, when I found out." Her eyes filled with tears again, but she shook her head and continued in a steadier voice: "But I did. Because I love you, Shinichi. And now I trust that if something were to happen…that you'd tell me, so we could go through it together, like Aoko-chan and Kuroba-kun are trying to do. So I want you to give Kuroba-kun a second chance. Wait!" she insisted, as he opened his mouth to protest. "Listen, Shinichi. You and Kuroba-kun are very alike, you know. I remember how much you liked him at first, before things got personal, and complicated—when you were just two equals challenging each other at the clock tower. But if not for his sake, then for me—will you give Kuroba-kun a second chance? Will you help him capture Snake?"

Shinichi stared helplessly at her. "Ran…" He swallowed. "I won't break the law for him, Ran…" He squeezed her hand.

"But I would do anything for you."

Ran gave a little sob and embraced him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed back, his face buried in her hair.

"I love you, Ran," he said.

"I love you too, Shinichi," she whispered, her face pressed against his shoulder.

They held each other tightly in the darkened room, as beside them the computer screen, still filled with bloody images of Kuroba Toichi's last magic trick, cast a pale glow onto their faces. After a moment, Shinichi lifted his gaze to the half-moon through the window behind them, his expression once again a ponderous frown.

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "The Place Where It All Began." Shinichi, Heiji and Ai visit the Hakuba mansion! Oh the shenanigans! _

_A/N:_

_Shinichi is really hard for me to write. So, if you have a moment, I would really appreciate reviews and comments about how I'm portraying him, since he figures prominently in this chapter and the next one as well :)_


	20. The Place Where It All Began

Chapter 18:

The Place Where It All Began

An elderly, primly-dressed woman stepped to the edge of the indoor pool of Hakuba Mansion, her lips pursed in a thin line. "Master Saguru!" she called. "You have visitors."

Hakuba Saguru, swimming laps in the pool, stopped mid-stroke and looked from the woman to the two young men and the young girl standing behind her on the pool deck. "Ah!" he panted. "Coming!" He began to paddle back across the pool.

The woman shot the young men an irritated glance. "I asked you to wait in the foyer," she said.

"Ah, sorry about that, obaahan," Hattori Heiji said with a feeble grin. "It's important."

Shinichi, who stood next to him with Haibara Ai perched on his shoulders, rolled his eyes.

Saguru had reached their end of the pool. He paddled slowly to the stairs at the side and stood up on the first one, gripping the railing tightly. His blonde hair was wet and matted against his skull, and his bare torso was pale and so thin that the ribs could be seen in his sides.

He took one precarious step up, but before he could take another the elderly woman bustled past Shinichi and Heiji, picked up a walker that had been leaning against the wall, and positioned it in front of Saguru.

He made a face. "Nanna,* I don't need—"

"Oblige me, Master Saguru," she retorted dryly.

So, with a wordless tensing of his face, Saguru stepped out of the pool and leaned heavily against the walker. Shinichi, Heiji and Ai watched him move cautiously to the bench next to the wall, where he eased himself into a seated position and picked up a towel resting beside him.

"Forgive my appearance," Saguru said, toweling his hair. "But you didn't inform me of your visit, did you?"

"Sorry to drop in on you," Shinichi said. "We wanted to discuss the new Kid note."

"I thought as much," said Saguru with a grin. "Nanna, will you show them to the study while I get dressed?"

"You could have them come back later, when you're better prepared to receive guests," the woman said with a little glare behind her.

"It's quite all right," Saguru said. He stood up again and gripped the walker. "I'll only be a moment."

The woman nodded and, as Saguru disappeared through another door from the pool room, she shooed Shinichi, Heiji and Ai back out the door they had come.

"Follow me, please," she said tersely, and stepped past them to lead the way up a flight of stairs to the first floor of the Hakuba family mansion.

They wound their way back through the front entrance, two parlors, another flight of steps, and a hallway lined with portraits before finally she stopped at a door on the end of the hall and waved them in.

"The study," she announced unenthusiastically, shooting Heiji a particularly nasty glare as he walked inside.

Three of the room's four walls were lined from floor to ceiling with bookshelves; against the fourth stood an enormous wooden desk with three computer monitors. The desk's built-in shelves were full of neatly-arranged notebooks, and on its surface were piles of just as neatly-stacked papers; even the pens and pencils were carefully placed in two bronze cups at the end. The wall above the desk was covered in newspaper clippings, maps, and charts, upon some of which handwritten notes in a mix of English and Japanese had been scrawled, sometimes left-to-right, sometimes up-and-down, but always just as rigid and orderly as the rest of the room.

Heiji whistled. "See?" he whispered to Shinichi. "I told you! He's you, but worse!"

"Wait here for Master Saguru's convenience," the woman said, just loudly enough that it was clear she had heard him.

Shinichi kicked Heiji's foot. "Yes ma'am," he said politely as Heiji whimpered.

The woman nodded curtly, but didn't move. She stood in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob, her face even more pinched and disapproving than before.

"Do your parents know what you're doing?" she snapped, rather abruptly.

"Uh..." Shinichi and Heiji exchanged glances.

"Do they know you're mixing yourself up in such a dangerous case?" she continued, her eyes sharp as she looked from one to the other. "Moreover, do _you_ know how worried they would be?"

"They know," Ai spoke up from Shinichi's shoulders. "They just try not to think about it."

"Hm," the woman said curtly while Shinichi and Heiji shot Ai irritable glances. "Master Saguru's parents are very busy people," she said, an odd note of emotion in her voice that made the boys look back at her. "They aren't ones to make a fuss—that's why Master Saguru acts the way he does. But all of you," she continued, her tone almost angry now as she stared the three down, "have people responsible for you at home, who love you very much. They must be sick with worry, every minute that you're away from home."

Shinichi and Heiji exchanged stupefied glances. "Um," said Shinichi, "...Thank—"

"Hm!" the woman said once again. She closed the door firmly in their faces.

"…Well," Heiji said as her footsteps padded out of earshot through the door. "That was..."

"I liked her," said Ai, with a little smile.

Shinichi gave an amused grimace and lifted her off his shoulders to the ground. "You would." He stepped over to the bookshelves and glanced at the fastidiously organized titles. There was an entire case devoted to mystery novels, with two shelves of Sherlock Holmes editions. A gap between a first-edition _The Sign of Four_ and _The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume I_ was explained by a thick, well-worn book lying open on the armchair by the bookcase. Shinichi looked at it. On the top of the left-hand page, above the text, was the heading _The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_, and on the right-hand side, _The Adventure of the Reigate Squire_.

Heiji peered over Shinichi's shoulder. "Yeesh. Holmes freaks all around. 'The Reigate Squire…' I remember that one—"

The door opened again and the boys looked up to see Saguru, dressed in slacks and a starched collared shirt, his slightly-damp blond hair combed down and his cane in his hand.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting," he said as he limped past them to the desk. "And please excuse my appearance."

Heiji, wearing scuffed jeans and a bomber jacket, tugged at the brim of his worn baseball cap and glared at Saguru.

"I've already scanned and analyzed the new note, so I can show you my conclusions thus far." Saguru eased himself into his desk chair and pressed the computer's power button. As the computer began to hum and a loading bar appeared on the screen, he sat back in the chair, folded his hands, and looked almost expectantly at Shinichi.

Shinichi swallowed and raised an eyebrow. "Ah...what is it, Hakuba-kun?"

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the famous Kudou Shinichi," Saguru said with a little smile that was almost a smirk.

"Thanks," Shinichi said awkwardly. "Likewise."

Heiji snickered.

"Hm," said Saguru. The computer had turned on already but he continued to stare at Shinichi. "I feel almost as if we've already met," he said.

Shinichi, Heiji and Ai all froze. "O-oh really?" Shinichi stammered. "I don't think we have—"

"No, we haven't," Saguru said easily. "But when I first began investigating the Kaitou Kid—approximately four years ago now—I acquired a sample of the Kid's hair, which told me several details about the Kid's true identity, such as his race, approximate age, blood type, et cetera. I ran this information against a database of Tokyo residents looking for possible matches—and your name was rather high on my list, Kudou-kun."

Shinichi's jaw dropped in a sardonic grimace. Heiji and Ai smirked delightedly at him. "You think I'm the Kid?" Shinichi said sarcastically.

"I considered the possibility, but ultimately rejected it," said Saguru. "But I have researched you extensively, which I suppose is why I feel we've already met."

"Okay okay okay," Heiji said, waving his hand. "Let's see the Kid note." Saguru turned back to his computer screen; behind his back Heiji flashed Shinichi a grin and a brief thumbs-up before Saguru turned back around.

"Here's the note," he said. On the screen, a photograph of the inside of Inspector Nakamori's windshield appeared. The inspector himself could be seen outside the car, an expression of outrage on his face.

Shinichi and Heiji smirked. "Nice."

The four of them grew quickly serious, however, and gathered around the back of Saguru's chair to reread the note.

"'P.S.,'" Heiji read out loud. "'Remember to buckle up, Inspector.'" He chuckled. "What an asshole."

"It's a very vague note," Saguru said. "I can hardly identify any details pertaining to the case."

"Except that it'll be his last, apparently," Heiji said.

"Are we meant to assume he's referring to the gem he failed to steal at the docks last week?" Saguru mused. "Does that mean he's certain this gem is what he's looking for?" He looked up at Shinichi. "Where is it being kept?"

"The gem was confiscated by the Port Authorities, and locked up in storage at the harbor," Shinichi said.

"But it's scheduled to be moved soon." Saguru rubbed his chin. "In exactly…six days, four hours, and approximately twenty minutes, I believe."

"Yeah," Heiji said. "By Inspector Nakamori's people, right?"

"Yeah," said Shinichi. "They want to analyze it. But apparently there was some issue with possession rights, which is why the police couldn't take it until now, since the Port Authorities couldn't identify the gem's previous owner."

"Though if Snake is responsible for that murder the other day, then its former owner was that Tennotsukai Kaji," Heiji said. " 'Flamin' Sword.'"

"Hm," Shinichi grunted.

"Here's the police caravan's projected route," Saguru said, calling up a map of the city on another screen. "See—they'll start here, by the harbor, and end here, at the Ekoda Police Station." He dragged his finger across the screen. The path he traced wound through the center of the city, the clock tower, and through the theater district, before finally reaching theEkoda police station where Inspector Nakamori was headquartered. Shinichi, Heiji and Ai looked at the map, but offered no suggestions.

Shinichi's eyes flashed as they lingered on a certain point on the jewel's projected path. "It seems that the placement of the note suggests that he'll strike during the time the jewel's in transit," he said.

"The question is, where," said Heiji.

"'One last performance,'" Saguru read, "'and one last theft.' Interesting phrasing."

"But no specific details concerning either," Heiji frowned.

"He's keeping his cards close to his chest, this round," Shinichi said darkly.

The four of them fell silent again, their eyes on the note.

"'I have nothing but respect for the agents of justice'?" Shinichi read. "That must be some sort of code."

"Or perhaps someone else helped write this note with the Kid," Ai suggested with a smirk.

"Ah." Saguru looked up at them. "Do you, then, have reason to believe that the Kaitou Kid has revealed his identity to another person?"

"Yeah," Shinichi said. "But before I answer anything else, can I ask you something, Hakuba-kun? About your talk with the police department the other day?"

"Certainly, Kudou-kun."

"What did you mean by 'those who pursue the Kaitou Kid are often compelled to reassess their previously held notions of right and wrong'?"

"Ah..." Saguru shot Shinichi a keen look that he held for just slightly too long. "That is a conclusion that I have come to after almost three years of consideration," he said finally. "In fact, I cannot pin down the precise moment of the thought's conception—"A look of genuine distress flashed over his face—"so I'm afraid I cannot give you a more accurate estimate than that." He looked displeased with himself.

Behind Shinichi, Heiji made an incredulous noise that, at a glare from Ai, he quickly turned into a cough.

"Yes, you were quite influential in my conclusions, Hattori-kun," Saguru said, looking up.

Heiji started. "Uh—what?"

"The Detective Koushien," Saguru said. "But I'll come to that momentarily." He looked back at Shinichi. "You must have noticed this as well: the Kaitou Kid is, as they say, a 'nice guy.' An egotistical, arrogant, attention-seeking, quasi-maniacal lawbreaker, true—but he often goes out of his way to help people that he deems 'worthy,' these usually being young children or women. I confess I could make neither head nor tail of this tendency when I began working on the Kid mystery. I took it as yet another means by which he challenged his pursuers, his way of telling us he can carry off priceless jewels and seduce women at the same time without us catching him." Saguru's lips twitched.

"But then there was the Detective Koushien." Saguru nodded at Heiji, who nodded warily back. "As you no doubt recall, Hattori-kun, I was rather critical of your methods, which I deemed 'hot-headed' and 'illogical.' Twice you risked disturbing evidence in your rush to a crime scene, which I could only put down to arrogant competitiveness. I prided myself on my ability to remain cold and detached. However, it was that very detachment that blinded me to the emotions that motivated the true killer. I accused the wrong person of the crime. You explained, Hattori-kun, in what I assume to be your characteristic blunt and somewhat aggressive manner, that a detective's first priority is 'helping people.' If there is a chance that a victim is still alive, the detective must go to any lengths to save that person before assuming the more traditional investigative duties of deducing the culprit. This, not competitiveness, was the reason for your haste in rushing to crime scenes. This realization was… like a revelation to me.

"My failure to solve the case was extremely distressing to me," Saguru continued. He bridged his fingertips together and rested his chin atop them. "I retreated to England, where I was immediately swamped once again with schoolwork and detective work. I pushed the Detective Koushien away from my mind; my admirers in England hadn't heard of my failure, and I wasn't about to bring it up.

"But it was only another four months and three days until I decided to transfer back to Ekoda High School in Tokyo, because the existence of what I referred to as the 'Dark Syndicate' was becoming impossible to ignore. I point to Kaitou Kid heists such as the 'Blue Birthday,' 'Red Tear,' and 'Crystal Mother' cases as evidence of a third party in Kaitou Kid heists. Another two months and twelve days after my return to Japan, in the senior year of high school, I returned to England with Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko, where my face-to-face encounter with the Dark Syndicate resulted in my injury and prolonged incapacitation.

"I could tell you that my injuries were severely painful, but the truth is that after two years and three months exactly, my memory of the pain is not as acute as I am sure the pain itself actually was. In any case, what I remember most about the months following the incident is the loneliness."

Shinichi was very quiet, his eyes on Saguru. Even Heiji was still and grave.

Saguru impassively withdrew his pocket watch and checked the time. He seemed pleased, or perhaps reassured, by what he saw, then closed the watch and continued evenly, "I couldn't move. I hardly slept. I was too injured to even hold a book. I could do little more than watch the clock and listen to whatever music the nurse or my housekeeper had set up in the room. So," he said with a grave little smile, "I had a great deal of time to think.

"I thought quite a lot about you, Hattori-kun. Your over-emotional methods. Your insistence that a detective's first duty is to 'help people.' These were all, I realized, extremely applicable to pursuit of the Kaitou Kid. For the first time, I considered the Kid, not as a logic puzzle or as a criminal, but as a person. To ponder such a mind as the Kid's was extremely uncomfortable—" Here his lips twitched; Heiji and Ai smiled briefly as well, and Shinichi gave a small, amused smirk— "but in the end, deeply edifying. For example, knowing as I did that the current Kaitou Kid is too young to be the Kaitou Kid of ten years ago, I came to the conclusion that the first Kid had been killed by this mysterious Dark Syndicate that kept appearing, and the present Kid was probably motivated largely by a desire for justice and revenge. The methods that he uses to acquire such 'justice'—his highly public and attention-grabbing heists—display his utter irreverence for law and social convention—though I hardly need point that out to you.

"This was the beginning of my extended rumination on the character of the Kaitou Kid. Aided by psychology textbooks, I came to some startling conclusions.

"First: I became convinced that the Kid sees himself as 'in the right.' He mocks the upholders of the law not simply as an act of rebellion, but because he sees us as ineffective and constrained by formalities. He trusts no one but himself to succeed in his quest. Second: the Kid knows that his methods are not without consequence. He has alienated himself from his fellow man, both in costume and, undoubtedly, in his civilian persona, both to protect those around him from repercussions and to protect himself from the attractions of a normal life. In other words, he probably has few to no friends in his civilian persona so that there will be no reasons for him to regret his choice to abandon that self in order to be the Kaitou Kid. No close friends, distant to family members…cold and detached… such isolation, even self-imposed, is, as I am very aware, unpleasant.

"However—and this was my third conclusion—the Kid sees himself as able to disregard his unhappiness and dissatisfaction with his personal life because he has devoted himself unequivocally to the task of being the Kaitou Kid. He sees his personal self as an acceptable sacrifice, perhaps even a necessary or worthy sacrifice, for the attainment of his goals. I am no psychologist, but this is to me a case of self-annihilation. The civilian forfeits his life in a figurative sense for the sake of being the Kaitou Kid—for the sake of avenging the previous Kid and ridding the world of the perpetrators—and I fear that he would be willing to forfeit his life in a literal sense as well.

"You see, performers rarely have high self-esteem. It is a fact that I would never have suspected, but it appears to be a universally accepted psychological truism. Performers seek validation through their performances. Though their stage personas usually project overwhelming self-satisfaction and confidence, the truth is usually inversely proportionate.

"My fears concerning the Kid's self-destructive inclinations were confirmed when I reflected on his behavior. You have surely noticed, Kudou-kun, that the Kid has gone out of his way on frequent occasions to challenge you and I individually—as well as the gifted young boy Edogawa Conan. If he were truly grappling with a dangerous mission in addition to his regular lawbreaking, why would he intentionally draw famous detectives to him? The answer I came up with is, that once this is all over—that is to say, once he has defeated the members of the Dark Syndicate or died in the attempt—the Kid wants someone to put together the clues he's left behind. Possibly someone to complete his mission. Certainly someone to tell his story.

"In other words, I have come to the conclusion that the Kaitou Kid is not, in fact, as big an arse as he pretends to be. He is a man with a mission, who does not care if he dies in the process."

Saguru looked around at the other three. "And I, for one, have decided that I do not want to see that happen. If I am honest with myself—and, painful as it was, I had little choice _but_ to be honest with myself during my recuperation—I would rather see him successful than dead, either by the Dark Syndicate or our own government's death penalty.

"There you have it, Kudou-kun, Hattori-kun, Haibara-kun. It is not proper, nor does it coincide with legal precedent. It is rather unsuitably emotional, not to mention morally ambiguous. But these were my thoughts concerning the Kaitou Kid. Which is what lead me to make the observance that those who come in contact with the Kid cannot escape emotionally unscathed, because, frankly—" he let out another dry chuckle, "if it happened to me, it could happen to anyone."

The room was silent. Heiji looked somewhat shocked, Ai impressed. Shinichi's expression was calculating and inscrutable. Saguru had dropped his gaze to his pocket watch.

"Of course," Saguru added with another dry smile, looking up again, "it goes without saying that my determination to capture the Kid is unchanged. I _will_ be the one who finally catches him."

Shinichi's face broke into a grin. "You're on, then."

"Hm. I would relish the challenge, Kudou-kun, but I do remind you that this is not the Detective Koushien anymore."

"I wasn't at the Koushien," Shinichi said, his eyes flashing. "And I'm well aware that this isn't a game."

"Then I accept, and will relish the challenge," Saguru said, the same smirking smile on his face. "However, if this is the way it now stands between us, then I expect you will be leaving now."

He turned off the computer monitors and with his cane slowly stood up.

"My housekeeper will show you out."

Heiji and Shinichi nodded.

"Thanks," said Heiji.

Ai stepped up and extended a hand to Saguru. "You have made a favorable impression on me," she said calmly. "But to make such case-specific psychological evaluations of the Kaitou Kid, you must have at least a theory about his civilian identity."

Saguru didn't bat an eyelid. "Yes, I do. And I have not shared with you the conclusions I have drawn with the knowledge I acquired after my recent return to Japan."

Ai nodded. "Good luck, then." She extended a hand up to Saguru, which he shook with all solemnity.

"Thank you, Haibara-san. But—" he looked at Shinichi and Heiji, a familiar smirk making its way across his lips. "I don't think I'll need it."

…

"Okay, so he's still an ass," Heiji said. "But…Eh—he's pretty okay. What did you think?"

"The clock tower," said Shinichi.

He and Heiji, with Ai atop the latter's shoulders this time, were walking down the road from the Hakuba mansion.

The other two looked at him. "What?" Heiji said.

"'The place where it all began,'" Shinichi said. "He means the clock tower. And the note begins with 'it's time.' It's on the police caravan's path from the docks to the police station. It's the place where the Kaitou Kid and I first faced off, when I was sixteen."

"You think the note's addressed to you?" Heiji said skeptically.

"It's addressed to 'my most dedicated pursuer,'" Shinichi said. "The inspector's the official head of the Kid pursuit, but I've attended more Kid heists than even Hakuba has, by now, due to his injury."

" 'It's time' could just as easily refer to Hakuba," said Heiji skeptically. "He's so obsessed with that pocket watch of his. You heard him, all he did durin' the first few weeks of his injury was stare at a clock. That' s not normal."

"Ah, but Hattori," said Ai, "Kudou-kun is the hero of this particular adventure, and he needs to be the 'most dedicated pursuer' of the villainous man in white."

Heiji snickered. "Ah, so that's how it is. Well, guess I can just go home then, since Kudou seems to have this under control."

"I can't believe you guys are acting like this," Shinichi snapped. "You act like this is solely about my ego."

Ai smirked. "Isn't it?"  
"No!" Shinichi protested. "I can't believe you two would—"

"Well then explain, Kudou," Heiji interrupted, his tone abruptly more serious. "'Cause I gotta say, from where I'm standin', I figure it's best to help Kuroba out on this one."

Shinichi frowned at the ground. "…Look, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to capture the Kid. It's…After bringing down the Black Org, there's nothing I want more. But look at it objectively!" His head snapped up and he glared at Heiji and Ai. "The Kid's manner of 'investigating' is nothing more than causing as much trouble as he possibly can. Then as his audience grows, so does the likelihood of his targets being among them. But the presence of a man like Snake in that audience puts everyone else there in danger! The police, Inspector Nakamori, the crowds of fans that show up to all his heists—Nakamori-chan—and she even knows his identity." Shinichi's eyes flashed. "Kid is a danger to himself and everyone around him. The last heist only proved that, if Hakuba's incident two years ago didn't."

"I think Kuroba knows what he's doin'," Heiji said darkly. "He's been doin' it for almost four years now, hasn't he? He knows more about the Black Org than you do, Kudou."

Shinichi shot him an equally dark look. "You didn't see him the day after those people died in the heist at the docks. He was talking like it was still a game."

"I was there," Ai said mildly. "I think Kuroba enjoys saying outrageous things, just to see how you react, Kudou-kun."

"Well neither of you saw him at the heist itself. Snake cornered him, and if I hadn't interfered I think Kuroba would've tried to kill Snake. He had the eyes of a murderer when he looked at him."

Ai planted her elbows on Hejii's head and put her chin in her hands. "Personally, I don't see the problem. Didn't Snake reveal that he knows Kid's identity, and threaten to kill Nakamori-chan? If Kuroba-kun had killed Snake, it would have solved a lot of his problems."

Heiji frowned but said nothing.

Shinichi put his hands in his pockets. "We've got to put him away if we're ever going to get to the bottom of this last branch of the Black Org," he concluded.

"So you're gonna arrest him, then?" Heiji said darkly.

Shinichi faltered. "…Well…" He frowned and looked away from the others, off into the darkening late afternoon sky. "…Ran wants me to give him a second chance."

Ai smiled and folded her arms across the top of Heiji's head.

"As usual, Kudou-kun, you are a fascinating psychological study."

…

Back in his study, Saguru sat at his desk, his chin on his hands, watching Shinichi, Heiji and Ai through the window, his open pocket watch clenched in one hand. When they disappeared down the corner, he exhaled, reached for the desk telephone, and dialed a number.

"Hello— Momoi Keiko? It's Hakuba Saguru, your old classmate. How are you? …Yes, I'm well, thank you. …Yes. …Do you have a moment? I have a rather odd question for you." He sat back in his chair, his voice light but his eyes narrowed. "Do you know the feeling of having forgotten a little piece of information—It's not important, but it's so irksome to have forgotten it?"

"No, Hakuba-kun," Keiko said over the phone with a little laugh. "Normal people forget little things all the time."

Saguru smiled. "Indulge me, please, Momoi-chan. It just popped into my head and it's been a real bother—where did Nakamori-chan say that she and Kuroba-kun met again?"

"Huh?" Keiko said. "They met at that clock tower in town. At one of Toichi Kuroba's magic shows."

"Ah, I thought so." Saguru smiled. "Thank you so much, Momoi-chan."

"Sure…"

Saguru hung up the phone, smile gone. He held up his pocket watch. It was five twenty-three and forty-seven point twelve seconds pm. The entire interview with Kudou, Hattori, and Haibara had taken an hour, one minute, and fourteen point twelve seconds. His conversation with Keiko had been two minutes and fifty point forty-seven seconds.

Some of the tension drained out of Saguru's face. He exhaled deeply, put his elbows back down on the desk and resumed staring at the map on the screen before him.

…

_Next Chapter: "Dry but Sweet." Ai Haibara does some thinking._

_A/N:_

_In Magic Kaito, Saguru calls his housekeeper "baaya," which apparently means 'old housekeeper' or 'wet nurse.' I changed it to 'Nanna,' as it's more easily understandable, easy to say in both Japanese and English (for a bilingual baby Saguru), kind of cute, and less creepy than the latter definition's implications._

_Manga references: Saguru and Shinichi have totally met: Volumes 30 and 54. Shinichi was Conan at the time, though. The Detective Koushien was Detective Conan Volume 54. And Kaito and Aoko's first meeting by the clock tower, as well as Shinichi and Kid's, is from the "Kudou vs Kid" special. As another note, I've taken my interpretation of Shinichi's competitiveness from the Baseball Koushien case, episode 383. Ran talks during that episode about how Shinichi views competition and victory._

_Whew! This is long! Practically a Hakuba soliloquy in here. I owe part of the inspiration for Hakuba's character development from Ellen Brand's "An Unprofessional Opinion" and "Seven Percent" fics, both of which grapple with Hakuba's personality in a really sensitive, fascinating way. I strongly recommend them!_

_Please remember to review! Do you hate Hakuba? Do you want him out of the story? Well, that's not going to happen, because I love that British bastard, but honestly, if you don't like the way I'm writing him, I really want to know. And Shinichi—I'm very interested to know what you think of the way I'm writing Shinichi. I love excessively analytical conversations even more than I love Hakuba, so tell me what you think!_

_Speaking of which, I got over 50 reviews as of the last chapter! This is so exciting! :)_

_Geez, there are even a lot of notes for this chapter! _


	21. Dry But Sweet

Chapter 19: Dry but Sweet

_Two Years Ago…_

Haibara Ai answered the door almost as soon as they had rung the bell.

"Were you followed?" she demanded of the two boys on Professor Agasa's front step.

"No," Conan answered immediately, but he slipped past Ai and urged Heiji inside with a jerk of his head before closing the door quickly behind him. "And Hattori hid his bike in the garage. We're good to go."

"You better be," Ai said dryly. "Come on, then. It's downstairs, in my lab."

Less than a minute later, Ai was unlocking one of the drawers of her laboratory desk, Conan so close behind her that he was practically breathing down her neck. He stumbled back a step as Ai turned around, a small bottle in her hand. Heiji, who was taller than Conan and Ai put together, peered over their heads to watch as Ai shook the bottle open and a small pill fell into her open palm.

"Haibara," Conan said, his eyes fixed on the pill. "Are you sure about this? Is this…it?"

"As sure as I can be without testing it," Ai said grimly. "So I guess we'll know in a few minutes, won't we?"

"You're goin' to wait to see how Kudou reacts before you take it yourself, huh?" Heiji said with a dark chuckle.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Conan, looking her gravely in the eye. "We should make sure it works on me before you take it. If something were to happen to you, there'd be no one who could help either of us."

"I'm not taking it at all," Ai said quietly.

"What?"

"I have no interest in taking the antidote," Ai said briskly. "Now remember, Kudou-kun. You are not allowed to tell the police about any of this. You _must_ put forth the public story that you were miraculously immune to the poison Gin gave you, and have been in hiding ever since that time pursuing the Black Organization. Of course Mouri-chan has to know the truth—and I suppose I can't hope that Toyama-chan is entirely ignorant anymore, either," she said with a little glare towards Heiji. "But no one else. Do not mention the de-aging drug to anyone. Not anyone, Kudou-kun!"

"Wait—" Conan interrupted. "What do you mean you're not going to take it?"

"I don't want to," Ai said quietly. "I'm—" She looked from Conan to Heiji and back again, and gave a wry smile. "Miyano Shiho is dead. This pill wouldn't resurrect her, it'd only kill Haibara Ai. But Kudou Shinichi is still alive—and Edogawa Conan never really existed—which is why this pill can still save him."

"But I thought you said being a child was unbearable," Conan said. "You said you were only able to stand it because I was with you."

Heiji raised his eyebrows at this, but in a rare display of tact held his tongue. Ai stared at Conan, her lips pursed tightly together. After a moment, Conan's eyes widened. He began to blush. "H-Haibara—?"

"I've grown up since those days," Ai said, with a little smirk. "Kudou Shinichi is alive, and he belongs with Mouri Ran. Miyano Shiho, however, is dead, and no one will miss her. But…" she looked from Conan to Heiji and back. "I think there are people…who would miss Haibara Ai. Aumi-chan, Mitsuhiko-kun, and Genta-kun, at least—"

"More'n that," Heiji said firmly.

She offered him a pale smile. "Thank you, Hattori-kun."

"Gotta admit, I thought you were creepy when we first met," Heiji said amicably. "But you're all right—hell, you make a better first impression than Kudou did."

Ai chuckled. "Well, I suppose if we all survive tonight, then I can forgive you for all those times you almost blew Kudou-kun's cover."

"O-oh, yeah," Heiji said with a sheepish grin. "Yeah." He extended a fist down to Ai. "Well, friends now, right?"

Ai considered his proffered hand, then hesitantly bumped it with her own small fist. "Friends," she said seriously.

Then she turned back to Conan. They looked at each other for a moment, then Conan put a hand on Ai's shoulder and gripped it firmly. "Haibara," he said. "…I don't know what to say."

"How about 'thank you'?" she said dryly.

Conan laughed. Then they hugged each other.

When they separated, she had pressed the pill in Conan's palm. "Take it. And here are some of your clothes that Professor Agasa got from your house, for you to change into—"

Conan nodded and picked up the pile of clothes on her desk. Before he could turn away, however, Ai caught his arm.

"And Kudou-kun," she added. "Remember. You must not tell anyone."

A flicker of a frown crossed Conan's face. "There's only one truth, Haibara." *

"But not everyone has to know it," Ai said. "If this secret gets out, new Black Organizations will crop up everywhere—Kudou-kun—"

"Okay," he interrupted. "Okay." He smiled. "We won't tell more people than absolutely necessary."

Ai sighed and crossed her arms. "I suppose that's the best I can get from you."

Without another word Conan turned and walked across the basement to the bathroom, his clothes and the pill clenched in his small fists. Heiji pounded him on the shoulder as he passed. Then he reached the bathroom and closed the door.

There was more than a minute of silence, as Ai and Heiji exchanged awkward glances and then looked away, his face ashen, hers very pale but for two bright red splotches on her cheeks.

Then, from the bathroom, Shinichi screamed.

…

_Present Day…_

Ai sat at her desk in her laboratory of four years, the basement of Agasa Hiroshi's house. Her fourth grade homework had been finished in under an hour and neatly packed away in the schoolbag by her chair, and the results of her latest experiment frothed in test tubes in front of her. She hardly noticed them. She was staring at her hands, and thinking about her parents.

"Miyano Atsushi and Elena," Ai said out loud. "Atsushi and Elena…Adam and Eve?" She smiled. "How vain. Typical of the Organization."

But her face quickly fell into an angry frown again. "Were…Were they not killed in a car accident after all? Were they killed for trying to hide their research from the Organization? To hide Pandora from Snake…and the 'Eden Branch'…?"

Ai sat back and closed her eyes. All her years as Miyano Shiho, working for the Organization— "I was unknowingly defying my parents, continuing the research they never wanted to see in the Organization's hands."

After a moment, Ai's eyes snapped open again. "Kudou-kun—if he got his hands on Pandora, would he destroy it, or submit it as evidence in the mystery? In which case, it would be analyzed by government scientists, reevaluated, reproduced…" She rubbed her chin, staring intently at the desk before her.

"Kudou-kun…what would you do?"

Two years ago, she had extracted a promise from him to keep the Black Organization's research into immortality a secret, which he had more or less kept—Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko having apparently discovered the truth themselves.

"But that was two years ago," Ai muttered to herself. "Kudou Shinichi's identity doesn't depend on keeping that research a secret. But if Shiho is to stay dead—and Ai to stay alive—"

Ai sat up and slammed her ten-year-old's fists on her desk. "I don't want to be Miyano Shiho!" she shouted. "Miyano Shiho is dead! I'm Haibara Ai and I'm _happy_!"

Her words rang in the empty basement. The hum of her computer was her only answer, and the faint creak of Professor Agasa shuffling around upstairs.

Ai's eyes slid closed. She thought of Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta. "Immortality…" she whispered. "It's not necessary. One good life—is more than enough."

She fell silent again, staring at her desk, a ponderous frown falling once again across her face. After several long moments, the sound of the doorbell ringing startled her out of her thoughts.

The intercom on Ai's desk buzzed. "Ah…Ai-kun? I'm a bit busy up here at the moment—would you mind getting the door?"  
Ai pressed a button. "Of course not, professor," she said. "Be right up."

She slid out from her desk, her grey eyes narrowed.

_It doesn't matter what you would do, Kudou-kun_, she thought to herself as she padded up the stairs. _I'll take the choice out of your hands. Yes, I've benefitted greatly from the Organization's research—I've gotten a new life out of it. But no one else—_

She reached the front door, peered through the peephole, and then opened it with some surprise

. Hakuba Saguru stood on the stoop, one hand in his pocket, the other resting atop his cane. He smiled politely at her.

"Good afternoon, Haibara-san," he said with a little bow. "I'm sorry to intrude upon you. I was just hoping you could help me with a few questions I've been puzzling over."

The little girl smiled coolly. "I'll see what I can do."

_Miyano Shiho has one last job to do,_ she thought, as she stood aside to let him in.

…

…

_Next Chapter: "Kaito and Aoko." Hey, haven't seen them in a while…_

_A/N:_

_The title for this chapter refers to the alcohol 'sherry,' which is allegedly 'dry' but 'sweet.' The Detective Conan World Wiki points out that this description fits Shiho/Ai's personality rather well._

_This chapter was really hard to write…I don't have much experience writing Ai, and then the fact that she was by herself the whole time…_

_* Shinjitsu wa itsumo hitotsu!_


	22. Kaito and Aoko

Chapter 20: Kaito and Aoko

"I've got so many more heist ideas," Kaito said gleefully, as he sat cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, sewing a tear in his Kaitou Kid jacket. "Too bad I won't be able to use them. I do think this last one is pretty good, though. If I do say so myself."

He grinned up at Aoko, who sat mutely on the edge of the bed, his top hat in her hands. "I was particularly looking forward to the look on Hakuba's face for a couple of them. He's so uptight—I'm sure it would have done him good. And Kudou's always good for some really hilarious expressions. But alas, tonight's the night—this is my last chance to try to give Kudou a heart attack." His eyes flicked down, then back up, and his grin widened. "White."

She raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"White," he repeated. He nodded at her. "You shouldn't sit like that while wearing a skirt."

Aoko snapped her legs together and pulled her skirt over her knees. "Kaito!"

"What?" he grinned. "White is a very nice color. I like it when you wear white underwear. White is a pretty cool color in general, don't you think?"

"Oh, shut up!" Aoko threw the top hat in her hands to the floor. "Sometimes I just hate it when you talk!"

Kaito's grin slipped, but he quickly hitched it back into place. "You hate it when I talk? Would you rather I be a trophy boyfriend then, seen and not heard? Because I am handsome enough, I understand—"

"No—no, you _don't_ understand," Aoko said through gritted teeth. "You're always shooting your mouth off about something, but that's all it is. You're just talking for the sake of filling the silence. It's like you're performing. It's when you're silent that you actually say meaningful things."

Kaito flashed her a wink. "Aoko, if you're worried about me, just say so."

"Shut up!" Aoko shrieked, jumping to her feet. "Shut up, Kaito!"

Kaito closed his mouth. Slowly, he stood up as well and faced her. Her face was white and pinched, her fists clenched. Kaito looked somberly down at her.

"Aoko, if I talk too much, you don't talk enough. …Well, I mean, you shout enough. You're good at that. But you don't talk enough. Okay, I'm shutting up now! Your turn."

For a moment, Aoko looked like she was about to shout again. Then she took a deep breath through her nose.

"Yeah," she said, and her voice was breathy and slightly shrill. "I'm worried about you, Kaito. I don't want you to go break the law again. I don't want my dad out there trying to stop you. I don't want to see you fighting our friends. And I hate Snake! But most of all…" she looked Kaito in the eye, sniffed, and looked down at the ground. "Most of all I want to help you. Somehow. But I don't know how."

Kaito stared at her. "Aoko…"

She looked up at him, her cheeks flushed.

He swallowed. "…I don't know what to say."

Aoko let out a small laugh. "Good."

He stepped forward and embraced her, her cheek pressed into his shoulder and his arms tightly around her back. Kaito's face was scrunched up in a sort of frozen, almost angry expression; he opened his mouth, grimaced, and then squeezed Aoko tighter still, and rocked her gently back and forth.

"There," Aoko said quietly. "That's what I mean. Now you're actually saying something."

Kaito let out a brief laugh and pressed his lips to the top of her head. They stood that way together for several minutes, rocking back and forth, as the top hat and newly mended jacket of the Kaitou Kid lay on the floor beside them, and out the window the setting sun bathed the grey city in streaks of gold and blood-red.

"We've come a long way since high school, haven't we?" Kaito said softly.

"Yeah," she murmured. "Doesn't seem like it, sometimes…but we have." She pressed her cheek into his chest. "Remember that day, right after we got back from England two years ago, when you told me?"

He winced softly, and his hands tightened around her back. "I try not to, actually."

She laughed mirthlessly into his shoulder. "Yeah. That was the worst day of my life."

She couldn't see it, but he tilted his head back and winced. Their arms tightened around each other.

"…We didn't talk for months after that," Kaito said after a moment.

"Not until graduation day, senior year."

"Yeah." He looked down at her. "But you never told your father, all that time."

She lifted her head to look back at him. "I know. I felt like I should have…sometimes I still feel like I should tell him," she said, squeezing him around the chest so that he gave a playful wince. "But I didn't tell him. But my dad was behaving strangely after we got back from England, too. He wanted to catch the Kid more than ever…but he acted like he respected Kid more and more, too."

"Hm." Kaito pulled her close again, and she smiled up at him. Kaito smiled back, but a little hesitatingly.

After a moment his face suddenly went rather pink. He raised an eyebrow at her. "You have a bad effect on my Poker Face, you know. It's like you unlock me somehow. Anyway," he continued, his face pinker still, "I hope your dad's not anywhere near the clock tower tonight."

"Me, too," Aoko said softly.

They fell silent again, still holding each other.

"Remember our first kiss?" Aoko said presently.

"Geez," Kaito pouted. "What is this, the flashback episode of a bad anime?"

"Sor-ry!" she snarled. "It's your last heist, can I help it if I'm scared? And we were just talking about those months where we didn't talk at all. I didn't think we ever would again."

"Yeah," Kaito said solemnly. Then his face split into a grin. "You have a pretty big chip on your shoulder."

"Says the idiot who wears white at night and jumps off rooftops!"

"I can't help that I look good in white—ouch!"

She hit him again. "You're such a jerk!"

"Yeah, I am." He let her pound on his chest a few more times, then caught her by the elbows. "Hey, Aoko?"

She looked up at him with an expression of half-exasperation, half-love. "Yes, Kaito?"

His face was slightly pink again. "I know you don't like it when I talk, but—just bear with me for a second. You got me thinking about what brought us back together again, and maybe I'm more nervous about tonight than I'd ever let on, because I'm going to tell you why I never stopped thinking about you, that whole time."

She grinned and blushed a little bit. "This should be good."

"Just shut up and listen, will you? Geez, I hate it when you talk."

"Kaito!"

"All right, all right!" He squeezed her gently. "I accept your apology. Now listen, will you? I just wanted to tell you that none of this would have been possible without you."

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Ah…" Kaito rubbed his head. "Okay, so you know how I've been called an adrenaline junkie in the past? And it's probably true. I really do love standing on the edge of a skyscraper, looking down at the cars below—knowing the slightest misstep would be the end of it. And knowing that I won't mess up! And the feeling of free-falling—it's so cool! …But anyway…Well—being the Kaitou Kid is like constantly standing on a ledge. And I almost fell in—many times—fell into being the Kid, I mean. You know, and then Kuroba Kaito wouldn't have survived the fall. But—you're the one who's kept me from falling.

"Does that make sense? It's kind of like—" He rubbed his head again, his cheeks pink. "It's kind of like I'm a hurricane, and you're the calm eye at the center of the storm. I'm always blustering around, knocking into stuff, rushing and running just for the sake of keeping the storm alive—and—"

"Kaito," Aoko interrupted. "You know, my high school opinion of the Kaitou Kid hasn't changed. I still hate him." She smiled faintly. "And I would do anything to protect you from that jerk."

He gripped her by the shoulders, his brow furrowed as he looked down at her. "The best thing you can do to keep me safe from the Kid is to stay safe yourself," he said. "If something were to happen to you—"

"—Kaito—"

"I'm serious. You're my link back to myself, Aoko. To the real world."

"That's not true," Aoko said. She splayed her hands on his chest. "You have a lot of people, Kaito. People who like _you_, not the Kid. Heiji-kun, Kazuha-chan, Ran-chan—Saguru-kun and Shinichi-kun too. And your mother."

The skeptical expression on Kaito's face faded. He frowned sadly.

"Your mom misses you, Kaito. We all do. Don't pretend that Kaito is less important than the Kid, because that's just stupid. Your dad wouldn't have wanted you to live that way. Your mom doesn't want you to live that way. And neither do I."

Kaito looked down at her. "I'll definitely come back," he said.

She nodded, and tears suddenly sprung to her eyes. "You better."

Kaito inclined his head, and he and Aoko shared a kiss on the evening of the Kaitou Kid's last heist.

…

_Two years ago:_

Kaito hadn't slept a wink in the twenty-four hours since returning from England to Japan. Kudou and Hattori had moved faster than he'd thought, and now in the whirlwind of plans, plots, pranks and schemes that was his mind, his conversation with Aoko on the plane ride home had almost—almost—entirely slipped his mind.

So that evening, just as he was blowing through the kitchen preparing himself a dinner and searching for the baking soda, , the sound of the doorbell ringing caused him to jump so violently that he nearly choked on his fried rice.

"Kaito?" a very familiar voice had called, and Kaito had cursed.

He flew through the house, bowl of rice in one hand and chopsticks poking out of his mouth, and yanked open the door—and sure enough, Aoko was standing quietly on the front step, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Aoko!" he shouted, spraying rice from his mouth. "What are you doing here?"

Aoko looked startled but determined.

"You said you were going to tell me—to tell me everything."

Kaito had drawn a deep breath and held it, staring at her, hardly moving a muscle. Then he had cursed, seized her wrist with his free hand and, his chopsticks in his mouth, dragged her inside and up the stairs to his room.

Now Aoko sat perfectly still on his desk chair, her hands on her knees, her eyes wide as they followed Kaito back and forth across his astonishingly messy room.. His bedroom floor was littered with Legos, K'Nex, and other models of buildings, levers, and cranks. A makeshift chemistry set steamed and smoked on his desk, and in the corner a Hotwheels car was dangling in a net over a model of a clock tower. The walls were covered with torn pages of scrawled-on notebook paper tacked and taped up, and dotted with post-it notes of all different colors.

Kaito kicked over a few of the K'Nex to clear himself a path as he darted about, read over papers, typed into his laptop, pulled out strange pieces of equipment, and continued to shovel food into his mouth.

"—Kaito," she said finally.

He stopped short in the act of reading a map tacked to the wall next to a picture of his father performing a magic trick. Then he turned his head—he looked almost windswept, his hair tousled and his shirt rumpled— and shot her a flat look.

"Aoko. I'm the Kaitou Kid, okay?"

Her face turned ash-white.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Look—" He put a hand on the poster of Kuroba Toichi. "See this?" He gave it a shove. The poster rotated inward like a revolving door. Aoko caught a glimpse of a secret room beyond, and then Kaito stopped the poster-door from moving. The other side was now showing a different picture: Kuroba Toichi dressed this time as the Kaitou Kid.

Her eyes fell from the poster to Kaito, her lips parted.

Kaito waved his hands. "Ta-da. Now you know." He turned back to his laptop, shoveling the last of his rice into his mouth.

"Don't tell me you're actually surprised," he said thickly, around his food, then glanced at her and swallowed. "There's a lot of stuff happening tonight, Aoko. Some bad people, friends of the guy who tried to kill Hakuba, are moving tonight. I'm gonna go help some people stop them. I don't have time to talk to you right now."

He looked up from the laptop to glance at her again. Her mouth was still open, but her eyebrows were drawing together.

"So, see you later, right?" Kaito said gustily. He opened the door for her. "You should go."

She continued to stare at him. Then, slowly, she rose from the chair and crossed the room, her body stiff and mechanical. When she reached the door she stopped in front of Kaito, raised her arm, and slapped him across the face.

Then she left.

Kaito waited until he heard the front door close. He realized he was breathing hard—as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He massaged his chest, and slowly moved back to stand in front of the poster of the Kaitou Kid.

…

…

_**So begins the Kaitou Kid's last heist! Next Chapter: "The Bluff." Someone's got an ace up their sleeve…and it's not Kaito!_

_A/N:_

_Chapter 20! Two-thirds of the way there! This is so exciting! It's almost all action from here on out. However, the chapters are only half-written at best, although they're all planned out. Also, I'm a college student and the semester's starting to ramp up for finals and projects and things, so it might take me a little longer to update, but it will be done. Please keep sending me reviews and messages or just saying hi—it's very encouraging! Thank you, everyone!_


	23. The Bluff

Chapter 21: The Bluff

"Chief, chief, I just saw Kudou Shinichi in the clock tower courtyard outside! Wonder what he's doing? I think this could be big news!"

The editor-in-chief looked up from his desk and frowned impatiently at the eager young reporter standing before him. "Maybe."

"It could have something to do with that jewel the Kaitou Kid tried to steal a few weeks ago from the ship, remember?" the reporter continued, all but bouncing on her toes. "Oh, and that other teenage detective from Osaka was with him too."

"I doubt it's anything important," the editor-in-chief said, turning back to his papers. "But head down to the Port Authorities if you think there's something. That's where the gem's still being kept, right?"  
"Yes, sir!"

…

By eight o'clock that evening, it was on all the news networks: "Sources indicate the mysterious gem from overseas that even the Kaitou Kid failed to steal, the gem that cost the lives of two sailors little less than two weeks ago—is being moved tonight! Kudou Shinichi and Hattori Heiji were spotted at the downtown clock tower. Could that be where the Kid will steal the gem?"

"So much for secrecy," Nakamori Ginzo grumbled. "Damn journalists."

He stood on the sidewalk outside the Tokyo Port Authorities with nine other officers, each holding identical black safes. Ten police cars were parked outside the building, and beyond the cars an enormous crowd of reporters and Kaitou Kid fans were straining at the hastily-constructed police barrier.

"Inspector! Are you moving the jewel tonight?"

"Which safe has the real gem in it?"

"You'll never catch the Kid!"

"Why did Kid write 'this is my last heist' in his note?"

Nakamori ignored them. He stalked over to the seventh in the line of ten police cars and poked his head in the side window to speak to the passenger sitting in the back.

"How did this get out?" he growled.

Hakuba Saguru held up his iPhone to show the inspector the news streaming across the screen: an image of two college-age boys standing on the steps of a building before an enormous crowd. The caption beneath the picture read "KUDOU AT CLOCK TOWER. IS KID CASE THE CAUSE?"

"Apparently, some journalists spotted Kudou Shinichi and Hattori Heiji by the Clock Tower this afternoon and put the pieces together," Saguru said. "The entire area is now packed with Kid fans."

"Dammit!" Nakamori pulled his head back out of the car. "Well, let's just proceed as planned. Keep your eyes peeled, though."

Another of the safe-bearing police officers got into the back seat of the police car, and Saguru eased himself over with a wince to make room. "I always do, inspector."

Nakamori let out one last grunt, then moved away to get into the fifth police car. It took fifteen more minutes for the supporting traffic cops to clear a path through the crowd, but finally, at eight twenty-five and fourteen-point-twelve seconds, the cavalcade of police cars pulled out of the harbor and began their drive to the Ekoda Police Station.

…

"Rrrrh!" Heiji grunted, pressing the earphones of his portable radio further into his ears. He continued to listen for a moment, his eyebrows contracting dangerously. "Why the hell're they only sayin' your name on the news reports?"

Shinichi, standing next to him on the steps of the clock tower, tried to hide a smirk. "This is Tokyo," he said in a would-be conciliatory tone. "I'm more famous here than you are."

The two of them stood behind a police barrier separating the clock tower itself from the packed courtyard full of interested people, reporters shouting questions and incensed Kaitou Kid fans hurling insults at them.

"Tch. S'only cause they don't know any better." Heiji switched off his portable radio and stashed it in his back pocket. "Are you sure the Kid's gonna steal the gem here?"

"Pretty sure," Shinichi said thoughtfully. "Like we said at Hakuba's, the note was pretty light on details. But—"

"But you think it's addressed to you," Heiji finished. He rolled his eyes. "Okay."

"Who else could it be addressed to, then?"

"I dunno. Aoko-chan. His dad. Snake, maybe."

Shinichi put a hand on his chin. "Hm…"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

Shinichi and Heiji jumped as a roar went up from the crowd. They looked up; aside from the twenty or so hovering police helicopters, the clear night sky was empty, but an unmistakable voice was echoing through the courtyard:

"THANK YOU ALL FOR ATTENDING MY LAST PERFORMANCE!"

"Where is that coming from?" Heiji bit out.

"WE'LL JUST WAIT FOR MY FRIENDS THE KAITOU KID TASK FORCE TO ARRIVE, AND THEN THE MAGIC SHOW WILL BEGIN!"

"I think it's a recording," Shinichi said through gritted teeth. "That guy did something similar in the pseudo-teleportation case…when he stole Suzuki-san's jeweled heels…"

"OHHHH!" the kid's voice boomed again. "HERE THEY ARE!"

The crowd screamed its delight as, at the far end of the courtyard, a police car rounded the corner and began driving up the road parallel to the courtyard, then another.

"A LITTLE BEHIND SCHEDULE, BUT I CAN WORK WITH THAT! WHO DOESN'T LOVE IMPROMPTU MAGIC?"

Now five of the police cars had appeared along the road, but the first one screeched to a halt; their progress was impeded by the crowd of Kid fans who had spilled into the street.

"Where's the gem?"

"You can't catch Kid-sama!"

"Hey! Hey, look, Hakuba Saguru's in this car!"

From the seventh police car, Saguru closed his eyes and gripped his cane as people pressed against his car window.

"STAND BACK FROM THOSE CARS, EVERYONE!" Kid's voice roared through the crowded courtyard and resounded through the streets. "MY PRIZE IS HIDDEN IN ONE OF THEM, AND I AM GOING TO FIND IT."

"Those police aren't gonna be getting anywhere soon," growled Heiji. "This place is mobbed."

"This is insane," Shinichi snapped. "Announcing in his note that this is his last heist—people've probably come from all over the world to see this."

All ten police cars had appeared on the street, their progress painfully slow as they inched up the crowded street. Just as the first car had reached the clock tower, something small, silver and shining floated down to land on Shinichi's cheek.

"Huh?"

Another silvery flake landed on Heiji's baseball cap.

In Hakuba Saguru's car, the officer next to him smacked a fist into his palm. "Damnit! We should have altered the route—or something! Gone a different way! Split up!"

"No," Saguru said calmly. "Kid has already displayed his ability to hack the city's traffic light system. In the Nightmare case, he almost prevented me from arriving at a heist in time because my car was caught in traffic. This route was certainly the only one we could have taken. He'll have seen to that."

The officer crinkled his nose. "Th-then what should we do?"

Saguru wasn't listening. He was looking out the window. "What is…?"

"What is this?" Shinichi said.

He and Heiji looked up at the sky, and their jaws dropped.

The air was thick with falling silver glitter.

…

Chaos broke out among the assembled crowds. Shinichi and Heiji were still on the clock tower steps, struggling to press their way through the by turns cheering and bewildered spectators, but they could do little more than watch in mounting frustration. In the street, Inspector Nakamori and several more officers had exited their cars in an attempt to push the mobs out of the road. And Saguru, still seated in the back of the seventh police car, opened his eyes with a sigh.

Outside his window, the air was shimmering with silver sparkles that caught and refracted the city lights as they fell. Saguru opened his car door—not an easy task, so thickly packed were the reporters and bystanders—and with his other hand he produced an umbrella, and eased himself out of the car with his cane, taking care to open the umbrella against the glitter still raining down on the courtyard. He closed the car door and, with cane in one hand and umbrella in the other, he limped through the crowd to the sixth police car, and tapped the shoulder of an officer outside it, his blue uniform drenched in silver sparkles, who was trying to push a journalist back onto the sidewalk.

Saguru tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, officer."

"Ah…Y-yes, Hakuba-kun?"

Saguru glanced inside the car at the other three officers still seated inside. His eyes lingered on the black safe in the back seat. Then he looked back at the first officer.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, shouting to make himself heard over the commotion, "but could I speak to you for a moment? It's about the case. I've deduced the identity of the Kaitou Kid and I require your assistance."

The officer blinked at him for a moment, then hitched an eager smile onto his face. "Sure!"

Saguru turned around and limped across the street, away from the sparkle-drenched courtyard, the officer a few meters behind him. They walked a block away from the clock tower—the streets were completely deserted, as what seemed like the entire city had packed itself into the courtyard to witness the heist—and turned down a narrow side alley before the officer spoke up.

"Um…Hakuba-kun, where are we going?"

Saguru turned around and faced the officer in the deserted alleyway. They were no more than six meters apart. "Yes, I suppose this is far enough," he said, with a dark smirk. "…Kaitou Kid."

The guard's jaw dropped. "You think…" he pointed to himself with a finger. "You think _I'm_ the Kid?"

"Don't bother denying it," Saguru said calmly. "On your fourth-to-last heist, if you'll recall—before you stole the Hourglass Diamond from the Tokyo Fine Arts Museum under Hattori-kun and Kudou-kun's nose—you stole a ruby from well-known Tokyo actress Hoshakuji Renge*. It was a comparatively low-profile case for you, and since you returned the ruby the day after the theft, a lengthy investigation into your methods was never conducted. I however, retroactively deduced that you had disguised yourself as Hoshakuji-san herself. A feat not outside your capabilities, but requiring an incredible amount of primping and other such feminine tricks, of course. For example, you manicured your nails. I noticed, then, outside the Port Authority offices, which policeman had uncommonly neat nails, and made a note of the car that he entered."

Saguru spread his arms. "And so here I am."

The officer's expression had resolved into exaggerated amazement. "Amazing," he whistled. "Except for one thing, Hakuba-kun. How could you be sure that the Kaitou Kid wouldn't cut his nails in the three weeks since that case? Or how could you know that he doesn't bite his nails, or something like that?"

Saguru's grin didn't slip. "Because Kuroba Kaito doesn't bite his nails. I sat next to you for almost a year of high school, remember?"

The officer blinked. Then there was a puff of smoke, and a whip of white cloth, and in a moment the Kaitou Kid stood in the deserted, moonlit alley before Saguru.

Kaito clapped. "Impressive as always, Hakuba-kun. I'm flattered you noticed my fine hands. But—" his grin turned sharp as he bared his teeth. "I'm afraid I don't have time to play with you tonight." He produced a cell phone from his jacket pocket and held it up. "Look familiar? I swiped it getting out of the car. You're not going to be able to call for help, if that was your plan. And I also have radio transmitter dampeners that will hide your signal, if you're hoping the police will track your location and come for me."

Saguru smiled and nodded. "Touché."

Kaito put the phone back in his jacket. "Sorry. Though I usually enjoy our encounters, I'm not going to wait for you tonight—But if you hurry you may still be able to catch the show!"

He turned around and sprinted up the side street, not back towards the clock tower courtyard, but parallel to it in the narrow alley.

"See you later!"

But Kaito's own footfalls were not the only ones in the alley. He shot a glance over his shoulder, and his jaw dropped.

There was Saguru, sprinting down the alley after him, cane in hand but certainly not in need of it.

"Whaaa…?" Kaito gasped. He whipped around to face Saguru.

"Take it easy, Mr. Detective!" he shouted, and launched a sleep gas capsule at the approaching Saguru.

Instantly a cloud of thick pink smoke enveloped him. Kaito breathed a sigh of relief, then turned away—but out of the corner of his eye he saw Saguru emerge from the cloud, sprinting faster if anything—and the next moment he had leaped on Kaito and the two crashed to the ground.

Saguru threw an arm around Kaito's neck and twisted Kaito's wrist with his other hand—Kaito recalled faintly that Saguru, like his hero Sherlock Holmes, had studied judo, and bit back a curse—but it was simple enough for him to slip out of the larger but currently weaker boy's hold. He felt a strange pricking sensation on his arm but had already flung Saguru off him; Saguru hit the ground beside him and rolled away, and Kaito bounded to his feet, ready to disappear—and staggered.

Numbness was spreading across his body from the place where he felt pricked. Kaito took a step and the numbness shot down his legs like a jolt. He tried to run but his foot dragged on the pavement and he fell to his knees.

Kaito reached into his coat—but Saguru had jumped up again, with surprising speed; he seized Kaito's wrist and snapped a handcuff onto it, then attached the other cuff to the drainpipe on the building behind them.

Kaito could no longer feel his fingers and toes. He slumped over and would have struck his head on the pavement had not Saguru seized the lapels of his jacket and hauled him over to lean against the building to which he was cuffed.

Saguru rose slowly, panting, and stood before Kaito. The moonlight behind him cast his face in shadow, but it perfectly illuminated the Kaitou Kid, lying slumped in moonbeamin a deserted alleyway.

Then, with shaking hands, his breathing loud in the silent alley, Saguru reached down and pulled the hat and monocle off Kaito's face.

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "The Case of the Culpritless Crime." Checking back in with Shinichi and Heiji, who are wondering: How do you solve a case when the culprit is nowhere to be found?_

_A/N:_

_*Houshakuji Renge is a character from Ouran High School Host Club, which I just discovered. It's really funny :)_

_Manga references: Shinichi refers to the "Teleportation Magic" case, Vol. 61, ch 1-4 of DC. Saguru refers to the "Nightmare Case," vol. 4, ch. 6-7 of Magic Kaito. Later, Saguru refers to the heist I invented in this fic that took place between chapters 1 and 2 and about which, in retrospect, I should have written a bit more detail. Oh well._

_Remember in chapter 18 (20 by Fanfiction's count), when Shinichi sees that Saguru's been reading a certain Sherlock Holmes story? Hakuba has good reason to be interested in that story. You should check it out if you have time!_


	24. The Case of the Culpritless Crime

Chapter 22:

Kudou and Hattori VS …?

The Case of the Culpritless Crime

"Kudou-kun! Hattori-kun?"

Shinichi seized the police radio strapped to his belt and flicked it on. "Yes, officer? We're here."

"You were right!" The officer's tinny voice was hard to make out over the roaring crowd in the still-silvered courtyard. "We've found huge sacks of silver—uh, glitter, I guess…attached to the ventilation system of two of the surrounding buildings."

Heiji, hanging over Shinichi's shoulder, pushed back his baseball cap and gripped his hair. "Geez. That crazy bastard."

He and Shinichi were still standing behind the police line on the front steps of the clock tower, hemmed in by the crowd straining against the barriers.

"He probably did this to all the surrounding buildings," Shinichi said into the radio. "That's why the cloud of glitter is so thick. Can you check the other buildings?"

"Roger!" said the officer, and his radio turned off with a faint click.

"Okay, the ventilation systems," Heiji frowned. "But why the sparkles in the first place? Just for atmosphere?"

"You're right," Shinichi mused. "There must be something else—"

An enormous popping noise cut him off, followed by a sudden whoosh of air. "Sounds like that's our something else," Heiji shouted over the resurgent roar of the crowd. He craned his head to look at the road by the courtyard, where the police cars were still struggling to inch along towards their destination. "What the…"

Great clouds of pink smoke had already entirely engulfed the road; the people who had been clustered around them now staggered away, pressing back into the crowd.

And then out of the roiling pink clouds, a police car rose into the air.

"YES!" boomed the Kid's voice. "I THINK THIS IS THE ONE!"

Shinichi and Heiji's jaws dropped as the police car soared above the smoke and through the raining silver sparkles to hover in front of the ticking hands of the clock tower's face.

"What the…"

…

Only a few blocks away, Saguru stood frozen in the deserted alley. Kaito lay collapsed at his feet. Their eyes locked: Saguru's pale brown eyes, wide with shock, and Kaito's blue ones, narrow with anger and despair. His right wrist was handcuffed to a drainpipe behind him. Neither boy could move.

Kaito spoke first.

"Shoulda known," he said thickly, his jaw numb. He nodded jerkily at the abandoned cane lying in the alleyway. "Figures you'd have wild card…up your sleeve…"

Saguru let out a brief laugh and seemed to shakehimself. "I was never good at cards," he panted, "…but I thought I'd try a bluff—" His knees buckled and he fell to the ground before Kaito. "…Maybe it's not such a bluff after all…" He pressed a hand to his chest, rasping, his face extremely pale.

"…It's a paralytic agent," Saguru gasped after a moment, nodding at Kaito. He held up a small syringe that had been concealed in his sleeve. "I pricked you with it when we were wrestling. My girlfriend synthesized it. As well as the inoculation against your sleeping gasses, which is why they didn't work this time."

"Ah…Your girlfriend, the biochemical engineering student," Kaito groaned. "Morgan, right?"

"Yeah."

Kaito cursed. "Good catch."

Saguru laughed briefly again, but his expression remained mirthless. "It's supposed to last at least—half an hour," he said, wheezing slightly. "So I'll give you no more than fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes…for what?" Kaito said with difficulty.

"For you to answer my question." Saguru took out his pocket watch and opened it, his eyes still fixed firmly on Kaito. "I'd like to know just one thing—why are you doing this?"

"Damn it," Kaito hissed. "I don't have time for this—"

"You have time to outline the basics," Saguru interrupted, his expression hardening, a drop of sweat sliding down his cheek. "And to fill in the gaps in my theory—"

"Hakuba, people are going to die if I don't get to that gem tonight—"

"I know, Kuroba!" Saguru shouted. He winced and pressed his hand back to his chest, breathing heavily again. Kaito stared at him. "What do you think I've been doing in England?" Saguru continued. "Cricket?" A small smirk appeared on his consternated face and just as quickly vanished.

"I know more than you think. And I want the rest."

Kaito gaped at him.

…

The noise in the clock tower courtyard was deafening. People who had struggled to press back into the center now fled back into the streets as the police car zoomed in lazy circles over their heads.

"Come on!" Shinichi shouted over the din. He punched Heiji, whose mouth was still hanging open, then turned and bolted up the steps into the clock tower.

Heiji jumped and turned around. "Kudou! Wait for me!"

The Kid's voice echoed through the building as they sprinted into the clock tower stairwell and up the steps. "YEP…I'M PRETTY SURE THE JEWEL'S IN THIS CAR…LET'S SEE…"

"How could he have gotten a hold of a police car?" Shinichi muttered under his breath as he took the steps three at a time. "When could he have attached the cables? They weren't already on the road…we checked it—"

They had climbed halfway up the building before Shinichi veered right on the next landing and raced onto the tenth floor.

"We should be able to see if there're any cables attached to the car from here!" he shouted over his shoulder as the swinging door nearly smacked Heiji in the face behind him.

"I know—" Heiji grunted, clutching his side. "…Kendo's not an endurance sport, like soccer…"

"Hurry up, Hattori!"

Heiji made a snarling noise and raced around the hallway corner after him.

Shinichi was pressed against an enormous window looking out over the courtyard. "Look," he said, jabbing his finger at the glass. As Heiji reached him, he hauled the window open and hopped up onto the windowsill.

"O-oi! Kudou, be careful!"

Shinichi ducked beneath the window and stepped onto the outside ledge.

Heiji stuck his head out the window. "What're you—oh—"

Both of them stared at the small brown box clipped to the windowsill above Shinichi's head. Two thin cables protruded from it and seemed to stretch in the direction of the floating police car.

"And there's a firing mechanism here as well," Shinichi shouted to Heiji. "Looks like it can be remotely accessed—so he could control several of these at once…I bet there's a whole network of them crisscrossing the courtyard!"

"That's the reason for the sparkles!" Heiji shouted back. "They're so no one would notice the cables!"

"Right!" Shinichi was still peering upward at the wires attached to the building above his head. He frowned. "And that's how he can make the car move around so much. It's like he's attached puppet strings to it from each of the surrounding buildings. But…" he rubbed his chin. "These don't seem strong enough to lift an entire police car…" Shinichi stretched up on his tiptoes to take a closer look at the box.

"_ALMOST GOT IT!"_ thundered the Kid's voice, so loud that Heiji bashed his head against the window frame and Shinichi jumped but managed to keep his footing.

"God…" groaned Heiji, clutching his head. "Sounds like it's blastin' right into our ears."

"It is!" Shinichi said, peering closely at the box again. "There's a recording device and an amplifier…it's not Kid speaking at all, it's a preset recording!"

"What?" Heiji shouted.

"I said, Kid might not be here at all! I think this is a timed recording!"

"I can't hear you over the ringing in my ears!" Heiji retorted, as beneath them the crowd continued to roar and the sound of police sirens cut through the air. "But take a look at the police convoy!" He pointed towards the street, where the pink smoke was beginning to clear.

Shinichi carefully turned himself around on the narrow ledge and looked over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed.

"There are still ten cars there!" Heiji shouted. "Then this…"

They looked back at the police car doing figure eights through the sparkly air.

"It's a fake!" Shinichi bit out.

"The sparkles disguised that, too," Heiji said. "Probably a balloon, like his Kid dummies—"

"What?" Shinichi shouted.

"ANNNNNND…_POOF_!"

Heiji hit his head on the windowsill again and Shinichi came precariously close to falling as the Kid's voice resounded in their ears yet again. Above their heads, the flying police car exploded into a shower of red sparkles and white smoke.

Heiji pulled his head back in from the window with an inaudible curse as Kid's voice roared: "ALL THE CARS ARE BACK!" The very building seemed to tremble with the force of his words; Shinichi clapped his hands over his ears and pressed himself against the window as Kid continued: "_INSTANT TELEPORTATION MAGIC!_"

His head aching and his legs trembling from his near-fall, Shinichi crouched down and crawled back inside as well.

"Oi—Hattori! The police think he already stole the jewel."

Heiji was leaning against the wall, rubbing his head with one hand and clutching a police radio in the other hand. "Yeah," he scowled. "I already radioed that idiot Nakamori. He told me that I was probably Kid, just tryin' to get him to reveal the location of the jewel. No one believes a thing said over the radio on a Kid heist since he can imitate any voices."

"But Kid's not even here!" Shinichi said. "His voice was a recording, pre-set to correspond to when the wires and police car balloon activated, according to a timer."

"Yeah… that's how he did it," Heiji said. "But that still leaves one question—"

"Yeah," Shinichi said darkly. "Where is he?"

"An' if he didn't get the gem yet, what's his real plan?" Heiji added.

Both boys fell silent, still absently rubbing their heads, as the smoke and glitter wafted in through the open window with the continuing cheers, gasps and shrieks from below.

"He's here," Shinichi whispered.

"Huh?"  
"He's here!" Shinichi repeated. "In the clock tower! That's the most logical place for him to go right now."

"Uh, Kudou—"

Shinichi was already racing out of the room. "He must be here! I'm sure of it!"

"Oi!" Heiji shouted. "Kudou!" He took off after Shinichi. "Are you sure this isn't just your crazy showin' through?"

The two of them bolted back to the stairwell and up the winding clock tower stairs. Shinichi rushed past landings and continued upwards, apparently following clues only he could see.

"Kudou…" Heiji gasped, only a few stairs behind Shinichi but breathing hard. "…Just tell me this…you have a plan, right?"

"Yeah," Shinichi panted, his eyes narrowed and his face taught as he sprinted up the steps. "I have a plan."

"Geez…" Heiji muttered. "This is nothin' like any case I've ever been on… And," he added under his breath, "same for you, Kudou, even if you're pretending you've got everything figured out."

Finally they arrived on the topmost landing. Shinichi skidded to a halt in front of the door.

"Ah…" Heiji panted, walking up the last few steps. "I get it…you want to be able to see the entire courtyard from up here, right?"

Shinichi put his hand on the door handle and turned it.

They had arrived in the space behind the tower's enormous clock face, a high, vaulted chamber filled with enormous gears. A flicker of white drew Shinichi and Heiji's eyes to the narrow catwalk that ringed the room high above them.

"Kid!"

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "The Crossroads." A four-way intersection is a prime spot for some truly catastrophic car crashes… _

_A/N:_

_Hakuba got to say his catchphrase! "Hitotsu dake kikitai…Naze kono koto o…" which means, roughly, "I'd like to ask one thing…why are you doing this?"_


	25. The Crossroads

Chapter 23:

The Crossroads

Shinichi whipped out his stun watch and fired a dart up at the Kid. It struck him in the neck.

Kaito didn't flinch.

"That' s not going to cut it today, Kudou," he called from the catwalk high above them. "Someone else already beat you to the paralytics. My blood's pumped so full of anesthesia and antidotes thereof, your little stun watch isn't going to affect me at all."

Shinichi lowered his arm. A small smile appeared on his face. "Hm." He looked up at Kaito. "We're alike in one way, Kuroba. We both want to win, and win our way. Neither of us can back down from a challenge."

"I thought we weren't playing games anymore?" Kaito snickered.

"This isn't a game," Shinichi said. "This is a competition. A battle of wills. And we'll soon know who the winner is."

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a gun.

"Wha—" Heiji gasped. "Kudou!"

Kaito went very still. He stared at the gun in Shinichi's hand.

"Huh," he said.

"My accuracy with a gun is just as good as yours," Shinichi said. A drop of sweat trickled down his cheek. "I can incapacitate you without killing you."

"Hm." Kaito smirked and shook his head. "You're wrong, Kudou." He raised his head and looked at Shinichi. "You say we're alike in that we want to win perfectly or lose gloriously? Look at me!" He spread his arms. "I'm cornered at gunpoint. You don't know how I'll act when I'm desperate. I could do anything. I _would_ do anything. You have no idea what I'll do. " He grinned. "But I know exactly what you'll do. Or rather, what you won't do. You're not going to shoot me, Kudou."

"So certain?" Shinichi said with a tight smirk.

Kaito laughed openly.

"Kid!" The smile was gone from Shinichi's face. "I won't say it again. I won't let you endanger yourself and the people around you. Come down."

"If you came here to shoot me, then shoot!"

"Kid—"

Heiji took a step forward. "You idiots! This is crazy—"

"Why are you here?" Kaito shouted. "To catch me, right? So come on, then!"

"I will shoot if you don't cooperate!"

"Then SHOOT!"

The door banged open.

"STOP!"

Kaito and Shinichi glanced at the doorway and then back at each other; Shinichi's gun wavered but he kept it aimed at Kaito's face. Heiji, one hand on Shinichi's gun arm, gasped.

"Hakuba!"

Hakuba Saguru stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. His head was tilted towards the floor and his shoulders heaving with exertion, but he kept his eyes fixed on Shinichi and Kaito as he stepped into the room, his cane in hand.

"Stop this, both of you," he bit out. "Lower your gun, Kudou."

"So _you_ can catch him?" Shinichi snickered.

"No!" Saguru shouted. "I already did capture him. Forty seven minutes and seven point two six seconds ago, in the alley. And I let him go."

"What?" Heiji gasped.

"I thought you might," Shinichi said. "The way you were talking—"

"I'm surprised you don't see things the same way," Saguru said, taking another step into the room. "Hasn't detective work become more than a logic puzzle yet, even after all you've been through?"

Shinichi shot him another glance. "What are you—"

"Haibara-san told me," Saguru said.

"She _told_ you?"

"I always thought Edogawa Conan was an unusual child," Saguru said, a grim smile on his face. "Particularly since he so strongly resembled you as a boy. I researched you to see if you were the Kaitou Kid, remember. I've seen your baby pictures. I called on you a few days after you visited my residence, but you weren't home, so I stopped by Professor Agasa's house and spoke with Haibara-san. I had a crazy idea and I asked her about it, and she confirmed."

Kaito whistled. "Wow. Treachery on all fronts—"

"Shut _up_, Kuroba!" Saguru snapped. He turned his gaze back on Shinichi. "If you want to capture the Kid, then go ahead. I'll help you—"

"What—?" Heiji snarled.

"Saguru-kun, after all we've been through?" Kaito quipped.

"But," Saguru continued over them, his pale brown eyes still fixed on Shinichi. "You and I both know that there's a far worse criminal in the skies tonight. And that Kuroba is our best chance to bring him down."

All eyes turned to Shinichi. Even Kaito was silent.

Shinichi glanced at Saguru, then back up at Kaito. His expression hardened.

Then his face cracked into a reluctant, rueful smile. "You were right, Ran," he whispered. He looked up at Kaito. "Ran wanted me to give you a second chance. She said we're more alike than even I want to admit. If Ran gave me a second chance to win her trust, I'll give you one as well. If you can promise us one thing." He narrowed his eyes at Kaito. "Promise us that you won't kill Snake."

The grin on Kaito's face hardened.

"Phantom thieves don't kill," he said stonily.

"Maybe so, but I was there that night at the docks, when you first tried to steal this gem," Shinichi said. "I saw the eyes of a murderer. And I'm not just talking about Snake."

"I've never planned to kill Snake," Kaito said. "Phantom thieves don't kill."

"Give us your word."

Shinichi thought he saw a muscle twitch in Kaito's cheek. But then Kaito was grinning inscrutably once again.

"I promise. Thieves' honor."

Shinichi sighed. "That'll have to do."

Kaito shot a grapple gun at the ceiling, hopped over the catwalk railing, and lowered himself down to land a few meters away from the others. He beamed around at them all. "All right! It's an honor to work with you three. But unfortunately, we're on a tight schedule, so we're going to have to be brief. As you have probably deduced, gentlemen, I have not yet stolen the gem. The performance in the courtyard was a misdirection, so that the police would not suspect me when I actually steal the jewel as the cars pass the Tokyo Theater in Beika, fourteen blocks north of here."

"That's where your father was killed," Shinichi said.

"'The place where it all began,'" Saguru said quietly. "Of course. You meant the theater."

Kaito grinned, but his eyes were flinty. "You got it."

Shinichi looked gravely at him. "Are you sure the jewel you're after is Pandora?"

"I'm ninety-five percent sure it is," Kaito said. "Can't be too much more confident than that, and anyway it's too late for speculation. I've really gotta move."

"Hey," Heiji said irritably. "If you're headed to the theater in such a rush, why'd you come back inta the tower in the first place?"

"This guy," Kaito said, jerking his thumb at Saguru. "He caused an unforeseen delay in my plans."

"I caught you, you mean," Saguru said, with some satisfaction.

"So," Kaito continued, as if he hadn't heard, "between him and Kudou, I'm all but screwed now, by the way. The only way to get to the theater fast enough now is to hang-glide there, and since the clock tower is the only tall building around here, it's the best way to go."

"So sorry to mess up your plans," Shinichi said ironically.

"No problem, Kudou!" Kaito said cheerfully. "I think it'll all work out now. It definitely wasn't in the top five plans, but I did have a few strategies for the unlikely scenario that all three of you decided to help me."

Heiji snickered dubiously. Saguru smirked and leaned on his cane. Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"You planned for this? I'm disinclined to believe that," he said.

Kaito's face lit up in a manic grin. "Hey, that's a nice theory, Kudou! But you know, without actual proof—"

"DAMN IT, KUROBA!" Heiji roared, so loudly that the other three boys jumped. "COULD YA JUST QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD FOR ONCE?"

"Ah…right you are, Hattori," Kaito grinned weakly. "My apologies, Kudou."

"Eh," Shinichi shrugged, his voice light but a feral grin on his face. "It is true that the hard evidence still eludes me."

Heiji sighed and rolled his eyes genially at Saguru. "Let's just get this over with. Oh!" He stopped short. "Wait. One more thing—"

He whipped around and punched Kaito across the face.

Kaito toppled backward and with a whirl of his cape fell unceremoniously onto his behind. "Wha—"

"What the _hell_, Kuroba!" Heiji growled. "Were you _tryin'_ to provoke Kudou? What the _hell_ was that just now? God, the two of you—" He glanced at Saguru. "—Make that the three of you—I'd a liked you all a lot better if I'd never actually met ya." He thrust one hand out towards Kaito and stuck the other in his jacket pocket. "Here," he groused. "Idiot."

Kaito took his hand, a broad grin spreading across his face.

"Hattori," he said solemnly, extending a hand to let Heiji help him up. "I hope you never forget this day. Hakuba may be the only one to ever catch me, and Kudou may be my 'eternal rival' or some such—but you, my friend, will be the only one to ever be able to say that he punched the Kaitou Kid in the face." He took a step back from the other three and whipped out his grapple gun.

"And with that, I'm off! Head out of the clock tower through the rear entrance, and meet me in the theater. It'll probably be swarming with Snake's goons, so watch yourselves. I'm going to paraglide there, steal the gem, and land on the roof."

"How're you going to steal—" began Shinichi.

Kaito held up a finger. "Ah, Kudou-kun, the magic is in the surprise!"

And with that, he fired his grapple gun into the ceiling and zoomed out of sight among the shadows and creaking gears. There was a brief banging noise, a muffled curse, then the sound of a hatch opening and closing, and he was gone.

Heiji sighed and tugged his baseball cap. "I can't believe—"

"No time!" Shinichi interrupted. He was already across the room to the door. "Come on, let's go!" He flung open the door and darted out.

"Geez," Heiji muttered, as Saguru jogged a bit stiffly to the stairs. Heiji followed them, pulling out his cell phone as he did so. "Am I the only one thinkin' about how we're gonna explain this to the police? Especially if there're gonna be armed grunts at this place?"

Saguru and Shinichi were already gone. Only their footsteps could be heard pounding down the flights of steps to the street below.

"These idiots," Heiji snarled, racing down the stairs after them. "At least lemme text Kazuha!"

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "Waiting." Does it ever bother you that Detective Conan focuses so primarily on the male characters? It bothers me. Here's a chapter about what the girls are up to!_

_A/N:_

_I think Heiji's all-caps line just above is my favorite in this entire story :)_

_Speaking of the story, does this lack of reviews mean you don't like it? Don't leave me hanging, guys! Here, I'll give you an omake!_

…

_OMAKE!_

Shinichi: "Are you sure this jewel is Pandora?" 

Kaito: "I'm ninety-five point three percent sure it is."

Saguru: "I'm ninety-nine percent sure it is."

Heiji: "How d'you figure?" 

Kaito: "Oh, I see. The author said there'd be thirty chapters, and we're already on number twenty-three. So for the story to end in time, this gem's probably the one, right?"

Saguru: "Those were my thoughts as well."

Heiji: "Wait…but what if that whole 'thirty chapter' thing was just a bluff?"

Shinichi: "I agree…it could be a red herring. The author might intend to surprise readers with an additional fifty or so chapters, or maybe she's planning a sequel."

Me: "…What?"

Kaito: "Fifty more chapters! Whoopee!"

Me: "Guys…"

Shinichi: "If there are more chapters, that means this isn't Pandora, then."

Kaito: "Oh. That sucks. Booo!"

Me: "Guys…I meant it when I said—"

Saguru: "Yes, I'd rather not have too many more chapters, either. I feel like I'm only a reconsideration away from being killed off at any moment…"

Shinichi: "If anyone should worry about being killed off, it's Hattori."

Heiji: "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?"

Me: "I hate it when they break the fourth wall…"


	26. Waiting

Chapter 24: Waiting

Ran and Kazuha were sitting on Ran's bed in their shared college dorm room, each clutching mugs of tea and wearing almost identical worried expressions on their faces. They spoke rarely, and glanced often at the news mutely livestreaming over the screen of Kazuha's laptop.

"I wonder where Aoko-chan is," Ran said presently.

"Yeah," said Kazuha, her chin in her hands, her mug perched precariously between her knees. "She must be a wreck."

"Mm," Ran agreed.

They fell silent, watching the silvered pandemonium continue to play out in the clock tower courtyard on the screen.

Ran looked up. "Did you hear that?"

"No, I muted the computer. I could turn the sound back on, but it'll just be journalists babbling—"

"No, I mean that beeping. Can you hear that?"

Kazuha cocked her head. "Oh, yeah, I do hear beeping!"

"What is that?"

"I don't know!" Kazuha said. Her eyes grew wide. "You don't think—it could be a bomb?"

"Ah…" Ran said nervously. "It sounded like a cell phone beep to me, but—"

"Oh!" Kazuha cried. She pulled out her cell phone. "You're right! I got a text from Heiji!"

Ran sighed. She lifted her mug to take a sip of tea, but then nearly dropped it as Kazuha gasped.

"Ehhh?"

"What is it?" Ran cried, sloshing hot tea on her hand.  
"Heiji…" Kazuha said. She passed Ran the cell phone, who took it in her dry left and and read:

_Kazuha- wait 30min, then_

_call police to Tokyo _

_Theater in Beika. _

–_Heiji_

"Geez," Ran moaned. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know," Kazuha said, taking the phone back and rereading the text. "But it looks bad."

"How can you tell?" Ran asked, wiping her hand with some tissues.

"'Cause he wrote my name in the text," Kazuha said. "And then signed it with his. Heiji takin' the time to do that is like a normal guy sayin' 'I love you.'"

"You think they're in trouble?" Ran gasped.

"I think they're gettin' themselves in trouble," said Kazuha. She clutched the phone and looked at Ran. "What do we do?"  
Ran pushed back her chair and stood up, her face set. "It'll take us about half an hour to get to the theater," she said firmly. "Let's leave now. After thirty minutes we'll call the police on our cell phones, and then we'll be the first ones there." She strode to the door.

"But Ran!" Kazuha said, following her. She clutched her cell phone in both hands and watched with anxious eyes as Ran picked up both their coats. "Maybe we should call the police now!"

Ran looked up, and they exchanged glances. Kazuha bit her lip, her eyes wide; Ran narrowed her eyes and frowned.

"No," Ran said finally. She gave a small, forced smile. "We have to trust that they know what they're doing."

Kazuha frowned at her, her brow creased. Then she nodded. "You're right." She took her coat from Ran. "Let's go, then!"

"Right," Ran said. Kazuha raced out the door and down the dorm building steps; Ran locked the front door behind them and then leaped down the first flight of steps to land behind her.

"We'll call the police in twenty-nine minutes," Kazuha said over her shoulder as they sprinted down the steps. "And an ambulance."

"Ambulance?" Ran repeated. "But—do you think—"

"Yeah," Kazuha said grimly, her feet pounding on the steps. "I'm certain Heiji will need one."

…

Across the campus, Aoko was alone and pacing in her own dorm room. The television was live-broadcasting the Kaitou Kid case. She could still feel Kaito's lips against hers.

Aoko's eyes fell on a picture of her and Kaito on her desk. She frowned.

"Oh…"

Her hands started to shake, then curled into fists.

"Kaito—I'm sorry—but I can't just wait here."

She grabbed her own coat and purse from her desk chair and flung open the door.

"This is my story too."

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "His Most Dedicated Pursuer." Just who is the Kid's most dedicated pursuer? Could it be Kaito himself?_


	27. His Most Dedicated Pursuer

Chapter 25:

His Most Dedicated Pursuer

Heiji had caught up with the other two around the second floor of the clock tower, and together he, Shinichi and Saguru made their way out the back door. The streets before them were deserted and dark; clouds had covered the moon and stars, so the only light came from the few scattered streetlamps. Behind them, they could still hear the roaring of the crowd as it milled about in confusion, unsure of what they had seen and if the magic show was already over. To their right, the police cars had finally escaped the courtyard and were now driving in a line up the street. From the shadows of the clock tower, the three of them watched the cars disappear around the corner.

"I hope Kid gets there in time," said Heiji. "…I can't believe I just said that."

Shinichi shook his head but said nothing. Saguru only offered an ironic smile.

"The theater's ten blocks north of here," said Shinichi. "And if Kuroba's right, Snake will be there, and he'll have hired guns with him."

Saguru checked his pocket watch. "Kuroba-kun will definitely get there before us, but we may prove useful during the actual theft."

"All right," said Heiji. "Let's go!"

The three of them took off down the lamplit, deserted sidewalk.

After four blocks the high roof of the theater rose into view. They ducked into an empty doorway and scanned the street. Saguru was wheezing.

Heiji eyed him. "Hey. What's with you?" he said. "D'ya need a cane or what?"

Saguru let out a winded laugh. "I am perfectly capable of walking and even running on my own," he said between breaths. "The display of weakness that you and Kudou-kun witnessed at my house was just as much an act as my 'death' at the Twilight Mansion case—and just as tiresome to perform," he said with a small smirk. "However, it seems I am not yet at my former strength. Tonight's activities are proving quite strenuous for me." He stood up straighter and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "But there's no way I'm going to miss this."

"Tch," snorted Heiji. "Just try and keep up."

"Don't concern yourself over me, Hattori-kun."

"Oi," said Shinichi. "Come on, let's move!"

The three of them broke cover and raced down the street again. Three blocks from the theater, Shinichi's cell phone began to beep. The three boys pressed themselves into a shop doorway; Heiji and Saguru watched the street and the theater while Shinichi pulled out his phone.

"I did know you were fakin'," Heiji resumed, as if he couldn't help himself.

Saguru, leaning heavily against the wall, raised an eyebrow. "Did you?"

"It's from Kid!" Shinichi said, reading off his phone screen.

"I could tell somethin' was off the way you were movin' that day we came to visit ya," Heiji said.

Shinichi snorted without looking up. "You were saying he was faking before you even saw him!"

"Well I had a suspicion," Heiji insisted. "But I confirmed it, seein' you at the pool."

Saguru chuckled. "That was a close one, actually. I had been jogging on a running machine in the next room when my housekeeper informed me of your unscheduled arrival. I quickly stripped down to my boxers and jumped into the pool, so you wouldn't notice how sweaty I was." He nodded at Shinichi. "What does he say?"

"If we can, to get inside the theater and up above the stage. There's a stairwell to the roof up there. He and Snake will be on the roof."

"That place is gonna be crawlin' with Snake's hired guns, though," Heiji said. "It won't be easy to get to the roof."

"Yeah, he said that," said Shinichi, still looking at his phone screen. "He says if there are too many we should just leave."

"Well, won't know until we have a look, will we?" said Saguru, and he took off down the street.

Shinichi and Heiji sprinted after him. When they reached the block before the theater they turned west, keeping one block between them as they circled around to the back of the theater. A small door that appeared to lead backstage was open by just a crack. Shinichi sprinted across the street; Heiji opened his mouth to protest, but then merely shook his head, muttering "Geez—gonna get us all killed…" and charged after him, Saguru close on his heels. The three of them crossed the street and threw themselves against the wall next to the door, one after another.

"I still don't see anyone," Shinichi whispered to them, peering cautiously through the cracked door. "But that doesn't mean there aren't any snipers, of course."

"Right," said Heiji, giving Shinichi a strange look. "So hang on for a minute, and let's talk about what we're gonna do when we get in there."

"If the police cars stayed on their planned route, they passed the theater approximately five minutes ago," said Saguru.

"So if Kid's planning on gettin' the gem from them, he did it already, after they turned the corner," said Heiji.

"Probably," Shinichi agreed. "That's a very narrow street. It'd be easy to rig something."

"So are we assumin' he's already stolen it, then?" Heiji said.

"I think so," said Shinichi.

"We'll have to go into the building to find out," Saguru said. He looked at the other two. "Are we ready?"

Heiji nodded. "I just gotta find something to use as a katana, and I'm set."

"I've got extra stunners for my wristwatch," Shinichi said. His brow was wrinkled, and a drop of sweat trickled down his cheek as he reached into his jacket. "But just in case…" He withdrew his gun again.

Saguru looked at it and then closed his eyes and sagged against the wall behind him. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," he said faintly, dragging a hand across his forehead. "The Kaitou Kid was supposed to be nonviolent. That's why I left England to chase him. A nonviolent genius thief. It sounded perfect." He folded his hands and pressed them to his forehead.

Heiji looked from him to Shinichi. "We're a little over our heads."

Saguru let out a faint laugh muffled by his hands. "And Hattori-kun is being the voice of reason…"

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

Shinichi swallowed and pressed his free hand into the wall at his back. "Yeah, we are in over our heads. But Kid's not the violent one. Snake is. And…" he hesitated. "I don't want to see Kid murdered. I don't want to see anyone murdered. And there won't be any murders if we're careful. Hattori and I have used guns to scare criminals into surrendering without even firing a shot. Remember the case where the culprit pretended to be me? I held up some bullets and made him think I'd taken them from his gun. He panicked, and we took him down without a shot being fired."

Heiji nodded. "That probably won't work this time though, you know."

"Yeah, but we've got my stun watch and soccer skills, Hattori's kendo, and Hakuba's judo. Plus our brains. And, if we need it, a gun, for nonlethal shots only."

"Two guns," Saguru said quietly.

The other two turned to him. He was still rubbing his forehead and breathing heavily, but looked up and offered them a small grimace. "I'm afraid I took the liberty of securing myself a revolver as well." He patted his front right jacket pocket. "In case I end up on a rooftop across from Snake again. My housekeeper insisted."

Shinichi nodded. Heiji looked unhappy but stood up. "All right—let's do this!'

…

The Kaitou Kid had arrived at the theater ten minutes before the three detectives, and only two minutes before the police car containing the gem passed on the street below. But two minutes was all he had needed.

Now, with a whirl of his cape, he appeared on the edge of the theater's high, flat roof.

There was another man already there there, standing in the center of the roof. The shadows covering the moonlight made his features all but indistinguishable, but his identity was unmistakable.

"Evening, Kaitou Kid-kun," said Snake. "I saw your note. I've been waiting for you."

…

…

_Next Chapter: "Misdirection." Keep your eyes open!_

_A/N:_

_Manga refs: DC Vol. 30: The Twilight Mansion Case: Hakuba Saguru's first appearance in Detective Conan. If you haven't read/watched it yet, go do so. It's great. I thought he had actually been killed off and I was horrified. Shinichi's comment about when he and Hattori used an empty gun to scare someone into surrendering is a reference to the "Kudou Shinichi—Murderer?" case, volume 62._

_Speaking of Saguru…there's your complete answer about what's up with him. Not crippled…and you see there was totally a good reason for having him appear shirtless in chapter 18! _

_Geez, sounds like Shinichi was channeling Inigo Montoya up there! "Fezzik's strength, my steel, your brains…" Speaking of whom…Guys, you know about my Shinichi-anxiety. What do you think of Shinichi now? Is this still believable? I couldn't find a comparable situation in the manga off of which to base Shinichi's actions…_

_Okay, this was a boring chapter…I just had to set stuff up and get the boys from the clock tower to the theater. It gets real from here on out!_


	28. Misdirection

Chapter 26:

Misdirection

When they entered the theater back door, Shinichi, Heiji and Saguru found themselves in a narrow corridor lined with dressing rooms. Heaps of clothing and other props cluttered the floor, and posters of old plays and performances plastered the walls. Halfway down the hall, from one of the brownest and dustiest posters, half-covered by a large glossy image of Yoko Okino, Kuroba Toichi's dark, keen eyes peered out from beneath his top hat to watch their every move.

"We're backstage," Shinichi whispered to the others.

"No shit, Sherlock," Heiji hissed back, watching the Kuroba Toichi poster uneasily. The magician's photographic eyes seemed to be glaring directly at the three boys, as if they were trespassers in his domain. "Geez…what Kazuha'd say if she saw that…"

Shinichi raised his eyebrows at the poster, then at Heiji. "What?"

"Something about ghosts," Heiji said factually. "Or fate. Or something similarly stupid."

Shinichi snickered as Saguru stepped between them and nodded down the hallway, at the end of which was a large door with the words "Quiet Backstage!" written on them. "Kid said to go above the stage to the roof. Looks like the stage is that way."

The three of them looked at each other. From a pile of old props lying next to them Heiji picked up a long wooden katana, then nodded to the others. With a last exchange of glances, the three then slowly began to creep down the hall to the stage.

…

Far above them, the wind howled about the two figures standing on opposite ends of the theater's arched roof.

"Evening, Kaitou Kid-kun," said Snake, his fedora and black overcoat flapping in the wind. "I saw your note. I've been waiting for you."

"Yes, it is evening," Kaito agreed lightly. He stood on the edge of the roof, more than ten meters away from Snake, his cape billowing behind him, and put his hands in his pants pockets. "I think the conventional greeting is 'good evening,' but since my plan is for your evening to be a particularly bad one, I think the only option left to me that is both polite and honest would be to simply say nothing."

Snake chuckled dryly and took a step forward. Both of his hands were in his overcoat pockets as well. "Do you have it?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow. Slowly, he withdrew his left hand from his pants pocket, and then slowly, Snake's eyes never leaving him, he raised it aloft. A large diamond shone between his thumb and index finger.

Snake eyed the jewel in Kaito's hands.

"You didn't take it at the clock tower."

"Nope."

"Then how'd you get it?"  
Kaito grinned. "Misdirection."

…

_Ten minutes ago…_

Kaito had paraglided north from the Clock Tower around to the far side of the theater and landed on a lower part of the domed cathedral-like roof. He scrambled into the eaves in the corner, behind a tall column so that even his bright white Kid costume couldn't be seen from below, and looked back up the street.

There were the police cars, driving steadily up the street.

Kaito reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew what appeared to be a tangle of thin, wiry string. With a few tugs, however, it turned into a sort of net, which Kaito cast down onto the street below. More wires already stretched from the building across the street to the theater, and Kaito attached the net to these cords. Then, into the small metal box nailed into the theater where the ropes were attached, he clipped a smaller metal box with a switch on it.

Then he stretched flat out on the roof and waited.

Earlier, when his fake police car had appeared in midair over the clock tower courtyard, Kaito had been listening to the police radio frequency via an earphone. And when, immediately upon seeing the flying car hovering amid the silver sparkles, Inspector Nakamori had bellowed "Number four, report!" Kaito had known where his target truly lay.

Now, he pressed his earphone more securely into his ear and watched as the first police car drove past below him, then the second, then the third. When the fourth drove over the thin, wiry net lying all but invisibly on the street below, Kaito pressed the switch on the wall beside him.

Instantly, the cords went taught, and with a thin shrieking sound of wire scraping metal, the car was heaved suddenly and quickly into the air.

The radio was instantly full of panicked shouts.

"Inspector!" a woman with a clear, nasal voice shouted. "This is Number Four! We've been—we're—in the air!"

"Number Five, confirming!" shouted another voice. "I see them!"

Kaito withdrew a radio from his jacket and pressed the button. "Negative, Inspector," he said in a woman's clear, nasal voice. "This is Number Four. We're proceeding as normal."

"No!" cried the same voice over the radio. "That's not us! Inspector, we're _in the air_—"

"Is it another trick?" said a voice that Kaito recognized as that of Inspector Nakamori's aide. "Like at the clock tower?"

Inspector Nakamori cursed. "Number Four, confirm you're proceeding as normal."

"Confirmed, Inspector," said Kaito over the wild protests of an identical voice.

"He's trying to confuse us again," Inspector Nakamori roared, so loudly that Kaito winced. "Proceed, everyone!"

"But Inspector, this isn't Kid—we're _literally_ in the air—right above you!"

By now the tenth car had already passed beneath the swinging vehicle above them. None of them stopped. When the last one rounded the corner, Kaito stepped out from the eaves of the theater, crawled out on a gargoyle-like roof decoration adorning the roof, and from its head leaped lightly onto the hood of the gently swaying police car.

He looked inside the car and waved. Through the windshield, the two police officers, one still holding the radio to her mouth, slowly and fearfully waved back.

…

_Now…_

"Hm," Snake grunted. "Very clever. But how do I know that's the real Pandora?"

"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Kaito said cheerfully, tossing the gem from hand to hand. "But as the moon's covered by clouds right now, it seems we have some time to kill before we can both be sure."

"Time to kill, eh?" Snake chuckled. "What an apt phrase." He clicked the safety off his gun. "What's to stop me from killing you now and finding out the truth later?"

"Because you might still need me," Kaito said, the same cheerful smile on his face. "Even if you weren't already stupid, slow, ugly and out of shape, you're probably not the kind of person who can walk into an airport without the CIA and about half of INTERPOL leaping down your throat. That's the benefit of having an ostentatious alter ego to keep private one's secret identity," he added with a tip of his hat. "So it's much more convenient for you to keep your ugly face hidden and let me do your dirty work for you."

"Enjoy these petty insults while you can," Snake scoffed. "If that's Pandora, you'll soon regret them."

Kaito shrugged. "Not until the clouds clear, at least."

"That won't be long. It's a windy night." Snake started to withdraw his left hand from his overcoat pocket.

Kaito took a step back toward the ledge. "You shoot me, the gem falls, Snake."

Snake chuckled. "Relax. Didn't we just agree that I wouldn't be shooting you until we establish whether or not it's Pandora? I just wanted to show you something."

Slowly, he withdrew his hand and held up its contents for Kaito to see: a few playing cards, some wire, a plastic capsule.

"Recognize these?" Snake said. "As soon as I saw the note you left on Inspector Nakamori's window shield, I knew you had addressed it to me, and that you intended to meet me at this theater. I knew the hype about the Clock Tower was a fake. So I made sure to get here a few hours before you, and my boys and I combed the building for your pranks and traps. So if you were planning on killing me up here, I'm afraid you're going to have to think of an impromptu way to do it. And Kid-kun," he added, putting the tricks back into his left pocket. "I'm sure you've guessed what I have in my right hand pocket."

Despite the chill autumn evening air, a drop of sweat slid down Kaito's cheek. He didn't move.

"I expected you to say that," Snake chuckled. "So while we're waiting for the sky to clear, I wonder what your three friends are up to downstairs? Considering my men found quite a lot of the booby traps you laid, presumably to protect them."

From below them, the sound of gunfire echoed through the theater.

"Uh oh," Snake said. "That wouldn't be the sound of three promising young detectives meeting an early end, would it?"

…

"Shit!" Shinichi cried, as bullets pinged over his head and tore holes into the red curtains behind him. "Run!"

Behind him, Heiji was sprinting full-force across the stage as well. Saguru had already reached the wings next to the curtain ropes, his revolver out and pointed at the auditorium seating, a nauseated expression on his face.

At the front of the stage two men lay spread-eagle, knocked out by Shinichi's stun watch. A third was curled up in fetal position, nursing a bruise on his head, and a fourth was howling and clutching a bloody foot. Five more men were running through the theater seating area, ducking behind the red velvet seats and firing at the boys on the stage.

Saguru returned fire; his bullets hit the back of several seats and wads of stuffing bloomed like white blood from the red cushions. Two of the men ducked to take cover.

Shinichi and Heiji reached Saguru's side as he withdrew to reload his gun. "There's a ladder about three meters behind me," he said, pulling a new bullet cartridge out of his blazer. "Expect that'll lead us to our mystery room above the stage with roof access."

Shinichi nodded. "I'll cover you. You two go first."

The others nodded and Heiji, katana in hand, ran to the ladder.

"Hattori-kun," said Saguru, " let me go first, I have the ranged weapon—"

"No, that's okay."

"But—"

"You fell off a frickin' skyscraper, Hakuba.," Heiji said, glaring over his shoulder at Saguru's flushed face. "Don't tell me you're in peak physical condition. You shouldn't even be here. I'm goin' first."

"I'm fine," Saguru bit out, but Heiji was already halfway up the ladder. He stuffed his revolver into his jacket pocket and climbed after him as behind them Shinichi stunned another man with his watch and then raced to catch up.

…

Snake's laugh echoed over the sloping theater roof. "You didn't plan well for this night, Kid-kun. Not nearly well enough. I found all your traps, I've killed any help that might be coming—now all I have to do is wait for the clouds to clear. Your old man would be ashamed of you."

He fell silent as the howling wind all but drowned out the sound of bullets and shouts just below them. There was a renewed spurt of gunfire, then two screams, then momentary silence once again.

Snake smiled with delight. "Well well, sounds like they're right below us. Your detective friends got farther than I thought." He put a hand to his ear. "Did you recognize that scream? Which one was it?"

Kaito's face was stony, his cheeks shiny with sweat. He didn't respond.

Above them, a sliver of the moon peeked out from behind the dark clouds.

…

"Hattori!"

Saguru and Shinichi scrambled up the ladder to a small platform ringed with theater lights high above the stage. On the far side was a door set into the sloping ceiling marked "Roof Access," and on the floor before it lay a strange man—stirring groggily, clutching his head, a discarded gun by his elbow—and Heiji, lying still, blood pooling on the ground beneath him.

Saguru jumped over Heiji's body and pinned the other man to the ground while Shinichi crashed to his knees by Heiji's side.

"Hattori!"

"Stop it, I'm not dead," Heiji grunted. He tried to roll over to his back, his hands pressed to his stomach. "Ow."

Saguru dragged the unconscious other man across the platform and handcuffed him to the light fixtures as Shinichi helped Heiji roll onto his back, then stripped off his jacket and pressed it to Heiji's stomach.

"Ow!" Heiji cried.

"Suck it up, idiot," snapped Shinichi. " we have to stop the blood flow!"

Heiji moaned and bit his lip. "Geez…Y'know," he panted, "I think this is exactly where I got shot during the Naniwa Serial Murders Case." He grinned at Shinichi, his face grey and sweaty. "The fourth case we solved together."

Shinichi grinned shakily back. "I remember. You're always getting yourself hurt."

"Hey, I saved your ass, if you remember. If it wasn't for my omamori—"

"Stop talking," said Saguru, returning to their side and kneeling next to Shinichi. "There's only five minutes and twelve seconds until Kazuha-chan calls the police." He pushed Shinichi's hands off Heiji's wound and pressed his own hand to the bloody jacket. "Go on to the roof, Kudou-kun. I'll look after Hattori-kun until the police arrive."

Shinichi sat back, his eyes wide. The palms of his hands were red with Heiji's blood. "No—!"

"You stunned our pursuers, right? We should be safe for now. Go."

Heiji lifted his head from the ground. "Go, Kudou! Bet Kuroba could use some help. And don't do anything stupid!"

Shinichi jumped mechanically to his feet, but his face was still pale and frozen. "Right," he said woodenly. Then he spun around and ran across the platform to the door marked 'Roof Access.'

"Gettin' killed counts as stupid!" Heiji called after him.

Only the slam of the door answered him.

Heiji let his head fall back to the floor. "That's what Kazuha always says, at least," he gasped.

…

A sliver of moonlight fell like a knife across the dark roof between Kaito and Snake; both went stock-still as above them the clouds rolled inexorably back and the full moon blazed, clear and brilliant, in the night sky.

Snake's eyes fixed themselves on Kaito's left hand as slowly, he withdrew it from his pocket—a small, clear diamond was shining between his fingers— and, his white shirt sleeves whipping in the wind, he lifted it aloft into the moonlight.

The diamond shone even brighter than the stars above it, and sent dappled light playing across the entire roof. A beam fell on Kaito's monocle, which gleamed opaque on his blank face.

Slowly, his eyes fixed on the diamond, Snake's face drained of color.

"It's…it's not red…"

…

…

_Next Chapter: "Red Stone, Blue Girl." Reread chapter 2 if you don't know who I'm talking about. Maybe also peek at the omake in chapter 23 (25 by FanFiction's count) :)_

_A/N:_

_Good news! My last two term papers got pushed back by a week, and I celebrated by PROCRASTINATING HARD and all but finishing this story! So look for two updates a week from here on out! This is so exciting—for me, at least. This is the longest single piece I've written so far, so it's been a great experience. I hope you're liking it too!_

_Manga refs: Heiji is alluding to (surprise surprise) the Naniwa Serial Killing Case, volume 19, chapters 5-8 (Episode 118). Incidentally, one of my other fanfics is a pseudo-memoir telling that case from Heiji's point of view. It's called "My Best Friend Looks Like a First Grader." So if you're a fan of HeiShin (not romance, just bromance) and this wasn't enough for you, I hope you check that story out!_


	29. Red Stone, Blue Girl

Chapter 27:

Red Stone, Blue Girl

The diamond in Kaito's hands shone clear as glass in the pale moonlight. Both he and Snake stared at it.

"It's…not red…" Snake said slowly. "It's not—"

Not three meters below them, Shinichi's feet pounded on the metal stairs to the roof.

Snake's eyes shot from the gem in Kaito's hand to his face. Kaito's face was impassive, his monocle opaque in the moonlight.

"It's not Pandora," Snake gasped.

With a cry of rage he whipped out his gun just as Kaito raised his hand and hurled the gem at Snake's head. Taken aback, Snake's gun hand faltered as he reached forward and caught the gem with his left hand. At his touch, the translucent crystal turned ruby-red.

"Wha-a-a—" A red gas gushed out of the gem and into Snake's mouth as he gasped and squeezed the trigger of his pistol. The bullet zoomed over Kaito's shoulder.

"Missed me," said Kaito as the door to the roof burst open and Shinichi appeared, his wristwatch stunner raised. He fired a dart at Snake, who staggered dizzily from the red gas, and the stunner barely nicked Snake's nose.

Snake's arms fell to his side. He stared at the gem in his left hand.

Kaito put his hands back in his pockets.

"Sorry," he smirked, and from his right-hand pocket he withdrew a second, identical crystal-clear gem. He held it aloft. As soon as the moonlight fell on the gem, it turned blood-red.

Shinichi's breath caught in his throat. Even Kaito's eyes widened.

"P-Pandora," Snake gasped. "Pandora!"

Kaito looked at him and flashed a tight grin. "Misdirection again."

Snake swayed on the spot, clutching the fake Pandora in his left hand and his gun in his right.

"I expected you to find those traps I laid in the theater," he said coldly. "Those were all a bluff. Everything I needed to catch you I brought with me. Which wasn't much, if you notice. Little more than a fake gem with some anesthetic gas inside it." Kaito tossed Pandora up in the air and caught it again, and the whipping wind disguised the trembling in his own arm. "You've lost, Snake. The Kaitou Kid has beaten you."

Snake's face was brilliantly crimson, his eyes wide and staring at the luminous red gem in Kaito's fingers. He swayed again but did not fall.

"I think I missed with the stunner," Shinichi called to Kaito.

"It's okay," he called back, turning the Pandora gem over in his fingers as if looking for something on its glittering surface. "He's a big guy, but he won't last much longer. Ah-ha!"

The gem clicked in Kaito's hands and swung open like a box. Inside, scratched into the crystal's red surface, were a long string of numbers and symbols—a chemical formula.

Kaito quickly averted his eyes. "If I see it once I'll remember it," he said, so softly that the others could barely hear him. "And I'm not going to remember it. No one's going to kill for eternal life ever again."

A groan escaped Snake's puffy lips. He shook his head like a bull trying to swat a fly. A haze of pink gas still hovered around his head.

"I don't have any stun darts left," Shinichi called to Kaito, pulling his gun out of his jacket.

Kaito threw up a hand. "Wait." He drew back his arm and tossed the Pandora gem high into the air. It shot upward like a scarlet shooting star falling in reverse, almost brighter than the stars above it, the only drop of color in a darkened city landscape behind it. At the apex of its arc it seemed to hover in the air, and the light danced over the carven writing etched into its insides. Shinichi, too, averted his eyes for a moment, though there was no way he could have seen the entire formula. Snake, however, stared avidly, desperately, at the red gem, his mouth open, his eyes wide and bloodshot.

A playing card shot out of Kaito's gun and struck the Pandora gem just as it began to fall again. It was the King of Spades, and there was a small, black device clipped to its center that blinked once and then, as Shinichi and Snake looked on, exploded.

The groan became a roar in Snake's throat, then an inhuman scream as little red pieces of the Pandora gem rained down on the roof, tossed in the wind. His eyes were nearly crossed and his body swayed, but his every muscle was tense and he gripped the gun in his right hand with a terrible intensity.

Shinichi raised his own gun and pointed it at Snake.

"Don't fire!" Kaito shouted. He stared as if transfixed at Snake's contorted face.

Shinichi thumbed off the safety on his gun. "I won't—but—Kid!"

"You haven't forgotten thieves' honor, have you?"

Snake took another staggering step forward, and with his shaking right arm he began to lift his gun toward Kaito.

"Don't bother, Snake," he called over the wind. "You've lost. You've lost everything. I'm not even going to kill you. I want you to rot away in jail, always knowing that you were thwarted by the better man."

Shinichi bit his lip and pointed his gun at Snake's leg. He still didn't fire.

Kaito, too, lifted his card gun and pointed it at the bulging veins on Snake's neck. But he didn't fire.

"It's gone, Snake," said Kaito. "But I can understand why you're upset. Now that you're going to die someday like the rest of us, you're actually going to have to account for all your sins. That certainly won't be a pleasant experience."

Shinichi glanced to Kaito and back to Snake, his finger on the trigger.

Snake's face and neck were red, swollen, and glistening with sweat, his beady eyes bloodshot, his breathing loud and raspy on the silent roof. Suddenly he seemed less than human, like a wounded animal, trapped and frightened and angry. He took another step forward. His gun arm continued to rise toward Kaito.

Still, Kaito did not move. "Thieves' honor," he whispered, so low that Shinichi almost didn't hear him. "You wouldn't want me to kill him, Dad. Right? Phantom thieves don't kill." He held his ground and did not fire.

…

"S'all right," Heiji gasped. "I've had worse."

Saguru was kneeling by Heiji's side, his jacket pressed onto the wound on Heiji's stomach. He let out a dry chuckle.

"Perhaps…but you realize help is not coming for another…" he glanced at the pocket watch he had laid open by his side. "—three minutes and twelve seconds until Kazuha-chan calls the police, plus five to ten minutes of response time before they arrive. Approximately."

Heiji snorted. "Are you kiddin'? Kazuha's probably already called in the national guard."

"Didn't you tell her not to call the police before thirty minutes had passed?"

"Yeah…" Heiji winced. "But I wrote her name in the text. She'd know that means it's urgent."

Saguru wrinkled his nose. "When I specify measurements of time, I am always as precise as possible, to avoid confusion."

"Yeah, well you—" He broke off as the sound of footsteps suddenly sounded through the door from which they had come.

A moment later, a girl burst through the door from the main theater, her face pale and her dark hair streaming behind her. She hardly seemed to notice them, but raced across the room to the roof access.

"Hey…" Heiji gasped, craning his head. "Is that…"

The girl bent down to scoop something off the floor and flung open the door to the roof.

"Aoko-chan!" Saguru shouted. "Aoko-chan, wait!"

He staggered to his feet as the door banged shut behind her, muffling the sound of her feet pounding up the stairs to the roof.

As Saguru reached the door, they heard, over the sound of his and Heiji's shallow breathing, the swing of the second door to the roof as Aoko stepped out into the night.

There was silence, and then two gunshots cracked through the air.

…

…

_Next Chapter: "Murder."_


	30. Murder

Chapter 28:

Murder

…

_A year and a half ago:_

It was a swelteringly hot night in June, and Kuroba Kaito, a.k.a. the Kaitou Kid, found himself lying in his own back yard, his mouth full of grass, having unceremoniously crashed his hang-glider into the garden hedge. With a groan, Kaito crawled out of the wreckage of the hedge, the night's prize clenched in his fist.

"Mmmmph…soooorrre…."

It wasn't just the inelegant landing. A combination of unfortunate factors, which included a shockingly inaccurate weather report and a rather ill-timed stroke of brilliance on Inspector Nakamori's part, had forced Kaito to leap down an empty elevator shaft, free-fall down twenty stories, and then pull out his hang glider just in time to make a hard right angle out of the shaft and through the building's first-floor lobby. It was perhaps the most dangerous stunt he had pulled to date. In fact, there had been a moment or two, just before he jumped, and then just after he pulled open the glider, that he had been convinced he was about to die.

He opened the back door to his house and staggered inside. "Sooooo…soooorrre…"

As it was, he had grazed his leg against the elevator doors and then careened across the lobby before finally disappearing into the utter chaos that his unexpected arrival had caused.

That was only an hour ago, and already the post-adrenaline-rush pain was terrific.

This was the first time in a while he had found himself in mortal peril on a heist. Snake and his henchmen hadn't show up since the England case, six months before, right before Kudou took down the majority of the Organization. The only dangers Kaito had faced since then were Inspector Nakamori's empty threats and his own recklessness. Tonight was the first time Kaito could remember thinking he might not win this one.

But of course, Kaito had survived.

He remembered the feeling of falling, the wind in his ears, the hard clarity of his own thoughts, the sort of wildly serene moments in which he had been sure, absolutely sure, that his luck had finally run out.

Halfway up the steps to his bedroom, Kaito paused, one hand on the banister, and laughed out loud.

When he finally reached the top of the stairs and put his hand on the doorhandle to his room, he couldn't help but think of Aoko. What if he hadn't been able to make the turn through the elevator door? If he had died…his father would have gone unavenged. And Aoko?

He hadn't spoken to Aoko in more than six months. She had made it quite clear that her hatred of the Kid now extended to him.

Kaito all but fell through the door and staggered across his room to collapse across his bed, his face buried in his pillow.

"Ow."

"Hey."

Kaito jumped, turned his head—

Aoko was seated at his desk.

He jumped again, so that he nearly fell off the bed. "Aoko—!" he choked, struggling to rise. "What are you doing here?"

"Stay back!" she snapped, recoiling in his chair. There was a squeak of terror to her voice that froze Kaito in his tracks.

"Stay away," she said again. "I still haven't forgiven you." Her eyes flashed and Kaito felt a chill slide down his spine. He sat back on his bed.

"What's this about, Aoko?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out at first.

"…I missed you."

"What—" Kaito tried to rise again— "What do you mean?" His eyes narrowed. "Are the police here?"

"No! I still haven't told my father." Her eyes were dark and sad. "I said I miss you. When I say things, I mean them."

Kaito found himself staring into her eyes. He realized that his jaw was hanging open.

She kept speaking, in the same soft voice: "Remember that date we went on when we were sixteen, to Tropical Land? That I dragged you on because I was trying to prove to my father that you couldn't be the Kaitou Kid?" She gave a soft rueful laugh. Kaito paled but did not move. "I said you were like ice cream. Cold, but sweet." An even softer laugh escaped her lips. "I guess I didn't know you as well as I thought I did. Which are you, Kaito?"  
"I'm neither," he responded, so promptly that she blinked. "I'm Poker Face."

She sighed and looked down at her hands.

Kaito couldn't tear his eyes from her face. He didn't think he had sat this still in years.

Finally, Aoko looked up.

"You're not Poker Face, Kaito. You're neither sweet nor cold. Underneath all those masks you wear is a real boy, who's sweet in a different way, and funny, and kind. He's my best friend. And I don't want to lose him."

Kaito felt a lump rise in his throat. His cheeks burned, but Aoko continued, in the same small, slightly breathy voice:

"I've noticed the Kaitou Kid's gotten more reckless in the past few months. Just like how the senior class clown of Ekoda High has become even louder and goofier. You think the real boy under the masks doesn't matter, but that's the biggest lie of all. He matters to me.

"So," she said, over the protestation that she knew was coming, "So I'm not going to leave until you tell me what you were supposed to tell me six months ago." She settled into his desk chair, her expression hard. "Tell me everything."

And he did.

It took almost an hour, and by the end of it Aoko was deathly pale and Kaito was sitting on his hands to hide their shaking from her.

Aoko had not said a word. When he finished, she simply rose from the chair, her eyes on the ground, and walked out.

The next day was Saturday. He spent the weekend lying on the couch, moaning over the only-increasing soreness in his muscles, and trying not to think of Aoko. The memory of his twenty-story free-fall he also tried to avoid. For some reason, the thought of it was no longer funny. Now it only made his hands shake again.

On Monday morning, she was waiting on his front step. For the first time in more than six months, Kaito and Aoko walked to school together.

…

_Present day…_

For a moment, Shinichi observed from where he stood hovering on the periphery by the door to the roof, they stood in an almost perfect triangle: Aoko by the door, Kaito near the ledge, and Snake in the center of the roof. But it didn't last long.

Aoko fell back against the doorframe.

Kaito fell sideways, a flash of bright red blood on his cheek.

And Snake swayed on the spot, his manic, bloodshot eyes fixed on Kaito's bloody face.

Shinichi let out a cry and raced forward—just as Snake toppled forward flat onto his face.

Aoko gasped.

Kaito was struggling to sit up, one gloved hand clamped to a red wound on the side of his head. Snake lay still.

Aoko was holding a pistol in her hands, still pointed at where Snake's head had been moments ago. She lowered it with shaking hands, her face grey. Her eyes fell on Kaito.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded numbly, still seated on the roof. "He just—just grazed me. You—"

"You've got to get out of here, Kaito," Aoko said, her voice louder but more tremulous as well. The police should be here any minute."

"Aoko—No!"

The roof door burst open yet again and Saguru now rushed up, his sweat-matted hair clinging to his face as his eyes swept the roof: Kaito, seated, the sleeve of his white jacket stained with scarlet blood; Snake, his face blank and half-submerged in a growing pool of dark blood; Aoko, next to him, her cheeks flushed and a pistol clutched in his hands; and Shinichi, his eyes wide.

Kaito glanced at him, then back at Aoko. "If you think I'm going to leave you—"

"I'll be fine!" she cried. "I fired in self-defense! Everyone in the police force has a soft spot for the Kaitou Kid, though they'd never admit it. No one wants to see him dead. I fired in self-defense. Shinichi-kun would testify for that, wouldn't he?"  
"Yes," Shinichi said immediately. "I—" He broke off, looking from Aoko to Kaito.

"Please, Kaito," Aoko begged. "Go. You're bleeding a lot—even if it is just a graze. Make it look like you're dying, so they won't chase you. Please…it's almost over."

Kaito got to his feet. His neck was scarlet with blood, and his eyes fixed on Aoko. At his feet, the wind sent red shards of Pandora skittering across the roof and into the air. "Aoko…"

He looked from her to Shinichi, who stared blankly back, his own gun still held slack in his hand, then at Saguru, whose eyes were narrowed and his expression closed. He looked back at Kaito and, unseen by the other two, nodded briefly.

Then without a word, Kaito turned and took a running leap off the roof. His hang-glider opened and caught in the breeze, and within minutes he was nothing more than a small white triangle in the dark sky.

…

…

_Next Chapter: "Held for Questioning"_

_A/N:_

_Rereading this before I posted it, I panicked to think that I'm sending out a story about twenty-year-olds with guns. Disclaimer: This should never happen! Please don't steal priceless gems and run into abandoned theaters without police support and chase after your wanted significant others! Okay, that was my disclaimer. Please don't do what these characters are doing._

_Manga refs: The 'cold but sweet' story Aoko recounts is from Magic Kaito volume 1, ch. 4: "Kid's Busy Day." _


	31. Held for Questioning

Chapter 29:

Held for Questioning

Kazuha hadn't been able to wait thirty minutes. Twenty-five minutes and thirty seconds after Heiji had sent her that short but significant text, she had telephoned the Tokyo police. Four minutes later, she and Ran arrived in front of Beika Theater, where three police cars and an ambulance were already parked., just in time to see two paramedics carrying a young man on a stretcher out of the theater's arched front doors.

"Heiji!" Kazuha screamed. She ran to the stretcher and clutched at the side. "Heiji, are you okay?"

From where he lay, Heiji opened one eye and looked up at her. "Kazuha. Thanks."

Behind them, Shinichi and Saguru walked out of the theater, both pale, the latter limping. Two more police officers followed, and between them, almost a full head shorter than either of them, came Aoko, her hands folded in front of her but her chin raised.

Shinichi and Ran embraced. "Oh, Shinichi, what happened?" Ran gasped. She pulled her head back to watch as Aoko was escorted past them.

"Snake's dead," Shinichi said quietly. "Aoko saved the Kaitou Kid's life."

Ran's eyes widened. Behind them, Kazuha took one of Heiji's hands in both of hers, walking alongside the stretcher as the paramedics carried him across the sidewalk to the ambulance. Saguru followed unobtrusively behind, his face grey. "I knew you'd need an ambulance!" she said shrilly. "I knew it!"

Heiji winced. "Not so loud, woman! I'm wounded now!"

"I did!" Kazuha insisted. "I can always sense it when you're about to get hurt, Heiji. That's how I know to call an ambulance every time."

"You say that every time I go on a big case!" Heiji scoffed.

"Because you get hurt every time!" Kazuha cried.

Heiji was unable to respond because the paramedics were now lifting him into the ambulance, and the sudden bumping brought tears of pain to his eyes. Behind him, a police officer ushered Aoko into the back seat of a patrol car. She ducked her head and entered quietly.

Shinichi and Ran were still standing in front of the theater entrance, he with a slightly bewildered expression on his face.

"Aoko-chan lives on the other side of campus than you and Kazuha," he said, his voice soft and quick, his eyes darting around at the police officers and whirring red lights and the growing crowd gathering on the opposite side of the street. "It's closer to here, isn't it? That must be how she got here so fast. But we'll have to report to the police that Hattori, Hakuba and I followed the Kaitou Kid from the courtyard to the theater—because explaining how the note refers to the Theater directly means revealing Kid's identity—and then Aoko-chan should say she was at the Clock Tower, and followed the three of us here."

Ran, her arms still around Shinichi's neck, pulled back farther to look at him. He had a tight, withdrawn expression on his face but his eyes were bright and hungry, and glared almost reproachfully at the police officers paying them no mind.

"Shinichi," she said, and he turned gratefully toward her. "You go with Aoko-chan to the police office. You probably have to testify, don't you? I'm going to go in the ambulance with the others and look after Hakuba-kun. You know, Hattori-kun's got Kazuha, but Hakuba-kun's all alone. So if you go with Aoko-chan, I'll go with Hakuba-kun and Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun. Okay?"

Shinichi squeezed Ran's hand. "Okay, Ran-neechan," he said firmly, then blinked.

Ran started in surprise, then slowly gave a small smile. "Do you feel like a little boy again?" she said quietly. "Or do you wish you were one?"

He blushed. "Ran…"

She squeezed his hand and then kissed him on the cheek before darting past him to the street. Shinichi watched her help Saguru into the back of the ambulance after Kazuha, then as the doors closed and it pulled away, he turned back to the police car parked on the sidewalk by the theater. Aoko's tousled black hair was barely visible over the back headrest.

In the jolting ambulance, only the paramedic at Heiji's side moved, carefully cleaning the wound by his hip. The others watched with haggard faces. Saguru looked grey.

Heiji raised his eyebrows at him. "You okay?" he said flatly.

"Yes," Saguru sighed, a small, tired smile on his face. He leaned against the ambulance wall. "I didn't really _need_ that cane…although the doctors strongly recommended it. I probably shouldn't have been sprinting, at the very least." He chuckled. "I feel terrible."

Heiji snickered. "I knew you were fakin' it." He stopped laughing and regarded Saguru. "And you didn't even catch the Kid," he said, but not cruelly.

Saguru laughed again and closed his eyes. "It's enough," he said.

…

When the ambulance turned the corner and disappeared, Shinichi walked over to the police car, opened the back door, and sat down next to Aoko.

"Hello, Kudou-kun," she said quietly, in her soft, breathy voice.

Shinichi stared at her. "Hello, Aoko-chan."

She smiled faintly. "Thanks for everything, Kudou-kun." Her eyes were dark and sad. "I understand if you—"

"Aoko-chan." He shook his head. "I saw that you fired in self-defense. At any rate," he swallowed, "you did more than I could."

A tear sprang to Aoko's eye. Quickly she looked down at her hands, just as two more officers opened the front doors and got in.

"Hello, Miss Nakamori," said the one in the passenger seat, his brow furrowed. "We're, uh—we're going to take you down to the police station. To answer some questions. Your father will be there."

She was visibly shaking, but Aoko only nodded. "Okay," she said, her voice high-pitched but steady. "Let's go."

For once, no eyes were on Shinichi. He, too, joined the gathering crowds in staring at Aoko as their car drove off down the street.

…

…

_**Next Chapter: "Last Flight."_ _Yes, more chapters! You guys have been calling me out for messing up the count—but I didn't mess up! I did say there would be thirty chapters, but I'm not counting the two bonus chapters! See, this chapter is numbered 29. So in total there will be 30 chapters, three bonus chapters and an epilogue. So there are three more FanFiction chapters: chapter 30, "Last Flight," then a third Bonus Chapter, and then the epilogue._

_A/N:_

_Manga refs: Heiji's indignant declaration is inspired by the end of the Naniwa Serial Murders Case, volume 19 (Episode 118). The translation in which I first watched it had him howling "I'm wounded now!" at Kazuha, which my friends and I thought was hilarious. It became an in-joke, and now I had to have Heiji say it at least once._


	32. Last Flight

Chapter 30:

Last Flight

He shot across the city on the cold night winds, and the people below—the small but growing crowd by the old theater and the large, confused, and slightly bored crowd by the clock tower—they screamed and cheered because they did not know what had happened, could not see the red on the Kid's pale face, had no idea they were witnessing the Kaitou Kid's last flight.

It was second nature, by now, to fly through the lights he wanted, avoid the lights he didn't, be seen where he wanted to be seen, invisible when he wanted to hide. Past his own apartment, past Aoko's campus, past the Kudous' and the Hakubas'he rode the wind—because what were those places to him but places, spots on the earth? Out of the city and its bright lights he flew, and now unconsciously, though his mind was light and hazy, his body stiff and cold, he found himself flying over the suburbs on a path he had not flown in two years but which he knew all too well; a path of minimum visibility and maximum efficiency, into a neighborhood where his mother had walked with him, where he and Aoko had played in the street, where his father won every game and played trick after trick on him before carrying him inside to teach him the secrets—inside this house here, with the white walls and the black roof—

Kaito barely cleared the garden wall and landed with a clatter in the yard. His top hat fell off his head and rolled along its brim to rest on the back stoop, and he lay still, tasting grass and dirt and blood. The monocle was digging into his eyebrow. He stared at the top hat, brilliant white against the grey grass and the darkened house behind it, where the kitchen light clicked on. The hat's brim was splotched with blood.

The back door behind it opened—two bare feet appeared on the stoop, then stepped outside. A hand reached down and picked up the hat.

Kaito raised his head.

Wrapped a dressing gown, her hair still tightly tied back in a mussed bun, her face pale, her eyes ringed with deep dark marks of exhaustion and mascara stains, Kuroba Chikage clutched the hat to her chest.

"Kaito…"

Slowly, like an old man, he rose. His head spun. Every bruise on his body ached. His hair and collar were soaked with sweat and blood, his clothes clung to his damp body, and his legs trembled, but he stood and looked back at her.

"Mother," he said.

She let out a dry sob, and Kaito's heart—just for one beat—panged so agonizingly in his chest that he gasped.

He tugged the monocle off his face, and said, his voice cracking, "Mom."

Chikage burst into real tears now; she rushed to her son and Kaito took two staggering steps forward and fell into her arms. She clutched him around the chest, sobbing into his shoulder, and Kaito, his body throbbing with pain, dropped his face into her shoulder and put his arms weakly around her back.

"My son…my son…" she wept, and then he fainted, or perhaps blacked out, because he went even limper in her arms and then he was at the kitchen table and she was washing the caked blood off the side of his face, and the pain was confounding, and she swam and weaved before his watery eyes…

He leaned back in the kitchen chair as she smoothed his hair away from the long graze the bullet had gouged in his head, clutched at her apron as she looped a bandage over his forehead—but he was too exhausted to feel the pain—and the next thing he knew he was lying on the living room couch, a mug of tea on the table before him, and Chikage knelt beside him, washing his hands. Kaito's head spun, yet he watched, mesmerized, as his mother cleaned dirt out from under every fingernail with a hot washcloth, and then when the water was cool to the touch she got up and Kaito watched her go as if through a dark tunnel—sinking fast…

He did not remember how she got him to his bedroom, but suddenly his sweaty, bloody clothes were tossed aside and he was wide awake and trembling. He tried to speak, but his teeth chattered and his mother laid a hand on his head and began to stroke his hair. Kaito stared at her with wide eyes. When her hand touched him, his trembling stopped, but every time she lifted it to move it back to the top of his head he was suddenly wracked with shaking, then she touched his brow and they ceased again…his mother laid her other hand on his back and finally he lay still…

Kaito couldn't remember sleeping, but he remembered waking up to see his mother, still stroking his hair, and waking up to see her asleep with her head on his bed and her legs folded beneath her, and waking up to see her sitting on the side of the bed with her back to him and her head in her hands.

Each time, when he woke it seemed that his blankets were impossibly heavy, too heavy to move them, so he slipped into a deep, comforting blackness, which fell away at times to reveal foggy, confused visions: his mother getting up; his mother returning; the scent of more tea; hands on the bandage around his head, and a pulsing ache that rattled his teeth; even Aoko, who had taken his mother's place by the bed, Aoko who was stroking his hair; his mother once again, and then an empty room, but before he could begin to tremble again the blackness came back, and finally he fell so deeply asleep that he knew only heavy sheets and exhaustion and warmth…

…

He awoke with the sun burning through his closed eyelids. Sometime during the night he had flipped over and now, he noted, his eyes still closed, he lay sprawled on the bed in a tangle of sheets, one hand curled protectively over his head. His body still ached, his temples throbbed, but to lie in bed, in his own room, with the sun shining—from the angle Kaito could tell it was into the afternoon—was heavenly.

He opened his eyes, and his gaze drifted from the ceiling to the window to the foot of his bed, to the woman sitting on the edge of the bed with her feet up on his desk. She smiled when she caught his gaze.

"Hi," said Aoko.

Kaito jumped and sat up. "Aoko!"

She laughed, a little shakily, and moved closer to him on the bed. "Hey."

He leaned forward and pulled her into his arms. She came willingly, sliding onto the blankets across his lap, and wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders. Kaito's head ached; he realized again that there was a bandage wrapped around his head, but he closed his eyes and pressed his face into her forehead.

"Aoko," he said after a moment, his voice muffled by her hair. "What happened to my clothes?"

She giggled and pulled back. "Your mom took them while you were sleeping. She washed your face and arms."

Kaito peeped under the blankets lying across his legs. "But she left me my boxers. Thank goodness."

Aoko smiled faintly and slid off his lap to sit cross-legged beside him on the bed, their knees touching through the blanket. She ran a hand across the bandage around Kaito's head. "Does it still hurt?"

"No." Kaito grinned and slid her hand from the bandage to his cheek. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Tell me about you. How are you?"

"Me?" she laughed, but there was a drawn, haunted look in her eyes.

"Aoko," Kaito said, his face suddenly hard and blazing. "I'm so sorry—"

She hugged his knees. "You think I wouldn't do it again?" She smiled, but something in her expression was flinty.

"Aoko…"

She put her head down on Kaito's knees and said, her eyes on his feet, "I had to stay behind for a bit. Answer some questions for the police. And for my dad, about why I was there. I think he blames Kudou-kun and Hattori-kun," she grinned. "Boy, do I feel sorry for them. But it's clear that I shot to save someone else's life. The Kaitou Kid is very respected among the police force, you know, though no one'd admit it. And no one's going to miss Snake. When I left the station this morning they were already identifying him as the culprit of various unsolved crimes, both here and abroad. So, I might have to sit through a court procedure, but it's not like anyone's really going to go after me."

Kaito nodded, swallowed drily, looked away. "Good." His eyes fell on the poster of Kuroba Toichi still hanging on the wall.

"If I had known, four years ago, when I found my dad's room…" he touched the bandage on his head. "I thought it was a great idea. Thought it would be fun. It _was_ fun. For a while."

"We've both changed a lot since then," Aoko said quietly. "Maybe not for the better. But we're still here, and I can't help but think that's what counts."

Kaito frowned sadly and said nothing. He put a hand on Aoko's back and she sat up to look at him.

"Aoko," he whispered. "Remember, only a few weeks ago, when I said I'd give you the Kaitou Kid?" Aoko let out a laugh that was more of a sob, but Kaito clutched her hands and continued, "Well I'm glad you did, because he was never mine to begin with and now both he and I would be dead if it weren't for you." Aoko closed her eyes and two tears trickled down her cheeks. Kaito drew her into his arms again, his brow creased in distress. "Oh no, I'm trying to cheer you up—none of my tricks ever work with you. What I'm trying to say is, now that Kid's finished—well, I guess you'll have to make do with just me. If you want me."

"Oh, Kaito…"

"And I'm also trying to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Aoko."

Aoko's back shook with real sobs now. "Oh—this was supposed to be our happy ending! Why am I crying?"

"I don't know." Kaito wrapped his arms around her and reached around her head to rub at his own eye. "This isn't just my story anymore. I guess it never was. And it isn't just ours, either. It was partly my father's story, and my mother's, and partly Kudou's and Hakuba's and Hattori's story, and Ran-chan and Kazuha-chan's too, and Haibara-chan's, and it was also Snake's story."

Aoko sniffed and Kaito rocked her gently, wincing at the pain in his own sore and aching muscles. "…I don't know what else to say."

She sighed and pressed her tear-streaked face into his bare shoulder. "Don't say anything," she whispered in a breathy, squeaky voice.

Kaito laughed softly. "Right. I forgot you hate it when I talk."

…

…

**_Next: Epilogue._

_A/N:Sorry for the delay in posting! I've just moved into my summer digs and the past few days have been very hectic. But this story should be winding down soon._

_I'm sorry this chapter is so angsty. It should probably have been merged with the last one—put all the denouement into one chapter. I'm not sure I like this chapter. If I could go back and edit this story as a whole I'd probably trim some. I hope I'm not tripping at the finish line!_


	33. BONUS CHAPTER 3

BONUS CHAPTER 3:

A Friendly Competition

Saguru's British doctors were horrified to learn that their patient had already been swimming and jogging on a treadmill, not to mention chasing down internationally wanted criminals. On their orders, Beika Central Hospital doctors had sentenced him to a week in the hospital and at least another month in the wheelchair.

So in the days after the Kid's last heist, Saguru was usually to be found sitting, wheelchair-bound, in the corner of Heiji's hospital room. Most often, he read while Heiji, who was a voracious reader himself but who lacked the fortitude to do it for hours and days at a time, read, watched television, napped, or sulked about being, once again, in the hospital. Occasionally visitors (most frequently Kazuha, who visited every afternoon after classes and stayed until late in the evenings) would walk in on the two locked in a heated debate about anything from detective work to the merits of British or American pronunciation.

"It's 'aiy-tee,'" Saguru was insisting one afternoon when Kaito and Aoko came to visit. "Seventy-eight, seventy-nine, 'aiy-tee.'*

"No, it's pronounced 'ay-dee,'" Heiji glowered. "An' it's 'po-tay-toh,' too."

"Absolutely not. 'Poh-tah-to.'"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Kaito interrupted with a wave of his arms. He was wearing a baseball cap tugged low over the bandage around his head, but otherwise happily beaming as he gestured at Aoko and a bag in her hands.

"We bring you video games!"

Saguru and Heiji raised their eyebrows.

…

Kazuha, Ran and Shinichi arrived later that afternoon to find Heiji, Saguru, Aoko and Kaito locked in a furious game of Dragon Quest.

"Kuroba!" Heiji roared as Shinichi closed the door behind them. "I'm on your team, you idiot!"

"You're slow, I'm opportunistic," Kaito grinned. "Not my fault."

"But I'm wounded now!"

Aoko and Saguru exchanged brief knowing grins before returning to the game.

"Told you you didn't want to be on his team," Aoko smirked.

"I am indebted to you," Saguru said. "Please, come take this shield powerup. It looks like you're running low."

"What a gentleman!" Aoko gushed. "Are you paying attention to this, Kaito?"

"I think a live scoundrel is better than a dead gentleman," Kaito cackled. "What do you think, Hakuba?"

"Blast!" Saguru exclaimed suddenly. "Ah—Aoko-chan—"

"I'll revive you, Saguru-kun." A beeping noise came from the screen. "There you go."

"Cheers."

"Ahh!" Heiji exclaimed again. "Kazuha, get out of the way!"

Kazuha, who'd just sat down on the bed next to Heiji, slid off. "Hey!"  
"Damn!" Heiji howled. "Kaito—was that you?"

"Why would I waste ammo on my own partner, stupid?"

"It was me!" Aoko crowed.

"Excellent shot, Aoko-chan."

"Thanks, Saguru-kun."

"Are you losing, Heiji?" Kazuha smirked.

"I hate video games," Heiji snarled. "I kick so much more ass in real life than I do in video games."

Shinichi snickered. "Not right now you don't."

"Shut it, Kudou."

"Hattori, will you focus!" Kaito snapped. Saguru and Aoko were smiling very contentedly.

"Too late," Saguru said with much satisfaction as the screen beeped and Kaito cursed.

"Nice one, Saguru-kun!" Aoko cheered. "See, you're getting the hang of it."

"Indeed."

"Go over there!" Kazuha directed, seating herself in a chair by Heiji's head. "No, not that way—over there!"

"Kazuha, have you ever played this game before?"

"No."

"Then shut up!" Heiji fell to button-mashing, his face a dark, angry scowl.

"Ah, actually, Hattori," piped up Kaito, "You should probably go that way."

Heiji made an irate nose in his throat and thrust the controller into Kazuha's hands. "Here, then you play!"

"All right," Kaito snickered. "Now we're sure to win!"

Shinichi and Ran laughed as Heiji sputtered.

"Don't be so sure," Aoko said, her eyes glued to the screen. "Ready, Saguru-kun?"  
"Ready."

…

…

_I think I'll leave the rest to your imaginations Then I'll post the epilogue early next week and then we're done!_

_A/N_

_Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's been reading this story and sending me reviews and messages. It's so inspiring. There's been a problem with my FanFiction account where I can't reply to reviews, so please don't be offended that I probably haven't responded in a while—it just got fixed. _

_Manga refs: Dragon Quest is the video game that Aoko and Kaito are playing in Magic Kaito Vol. 2 ch. 2. _

_Self-refs: The English vs British pronunciation argument is a self-reference to my 'Arrested' series, where in one of the chapters Saguru and Heiji spend an afternoon stuck in jail together and bicker over the pronunciation of "West Eighty-Seventh Street."_


	34. Epilogue

Epilogue

_8 months later._

…

"Well," said Kaito with a grin; he planted one elbow on the bar and raised an eyebrow at his drinking companion. "Who'da thought this would ever happen?"

On the barstool next to him, Saguru raised his glass to Kaito. "Certainly not I."

Kaito clinked his glass against Saguru's. "Cheers."

"Cheers."

They both drank deeply. Then Kaito plunked his glass down with a sigh.

"Electrical engineering major, right?" said Saguru.

"Yup," Kaito yawned. "Not that a stage magician needs a degree. But it might help with tricks. I'll be out in a year anyway."

"A year?"

"Yeah." Kaito shrugged. "I've been overloading on classes."

"Found you have more free time these days?"

"Something like that. What about you?"

"I'll get my degree in another semester. Economics and Criminal Justice. Now I'm applying to law schools."

Kaito laughed. "We sound like normal college kids."

"We've been keeping busy," Saguru agreed.

"Are you kidding?" Kaito twiddled his beer glass. "Some days I'm bored out of my mind. But don't tell Aoko that." He shot a glance at Saguru, then folded his arms on the bar and rested his chin on them. "It's just that sometimes I get antsy. I'm sure when I finally get that stupid degree and start performing again it'll go away."

"Performing '_again'_?"

"You know what I mean. Being the world's greatest magician again, how's that?"

"And how does Aoko-chan fit into this grand plan?"

"She's gonna be my manager. She's still studying law, you know, she's just not going to be a police officer anymore. She's going to be my legal counsel."

"Keep you out of trouble."

"Exactly." A wide grin split Kaito's face. "We're getting married in a few months."

Saguru smirked. "I know. You invited me to the wedding."

"Oh, right. Is it too late to uninvite you?"

"If you do I'll uninvite you to my wedding."

Kaito's head shot up. "You finally asked her?"

"Not yet," said Saguru, his cheeks faintly pink. "Morgan graduates in another semester; I was planning on asking her then."

He tried to take a dignified sip of beer but Kaito elbowed him in the arm and his drink sloshed out of the glass.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," Kaito grinned. "Does this mean you're not going to invite me to the wedding?"

"Don't give me ideas." Saguru took out a handkerchief and mopped up the spilled beer as Kaito cackled. "You owe me another beer."

"Sure, sure." Kaito laced his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Wow—this _is_ weird."

"Actually, I've come to expect behavior of this sort from you."

"I didn't mean that."

"I know." Hakuba arched an eyebrow and gave a small smirk. "It is odd for me too."

Kaito pounded Saguru genially on the back. Then his face grew serious again and he took another deep draught of his beer. "Look, don't tell Aoko I said I was bored, okay? That just slipped out. I'm sure it's just readjusting to normal life."

"That is clearly an issue between you and her, in which I do not want to be involved," said Saguru with an amused quirk of his lips.

"Yeah," said Kaito. He raked a hand through his hair, his expression softening. "Yeah. We'll figure it out."

Saguru smiled, then turned and took another sip of his beer. Both finished the last few mouthfuls in silence.

"Was that a scar I saw?" Saguru spoke up after a few minutes. "On your head, when you brushed your hair."

"Oh. Yeah." Kaito pulled back the hair on the side of his head again. "That's the scar from the bullet. Hair doesn't grow there—doesn't hurt anymore, it just looks funny—but my hair's so thick you can't notice it when I don't comb it."

"Which is never."

"Exactly. So it works out."

Saguru nodded. "Funny how it's on the same side of your head as the monocle."

"Yeah," Kaito smiled briefly. "I've thought of that."

"Hm." Saguru put his elbows on the bar, folded his hands together, and rested his chin atop them. "A very interesting detail to add to my accounts."

Kaito's expression went from cheerful smile to darkest scowl. "I hate it when you look like this," he said, slouching away from Saguru on his barstool. "You have that 'I'm-a-smartass-detective-prick' face on. Okay, I'll bite. What accounts?"

"I suppose the most accurate term would be an autobiography."

"Autobiography?"

"Well, more specifically a study. Of the Kaitou Kid. An account of my experiences in pursuit of him."

"Oh yeah? How honest is this 'autobiography' going to be?"

"As accurate as I can make it."

"No."

Saguru raised an eyebrow. "Relax, Kuroba—I won't publish it until after your death. And if I die before you do, my will stipulates to hold publication until you die as well."

Kaito glared at him. "Murder cases 101: this is called a 'motive,' class."

"I'm not going to kill you!" said Saguru, appalled.

Kaito snorted.

"I'm writing it now while the events are fresh in my mind. It won't be published for another fifty to eighty years, you realize. But I'm going to write about everything. Including what transpired in that side street between the Kaitou Kid and myself, concerning a pair of handcuffs and a misplaced key."

"You'll get a lot of people in trouble. Including yourself." Kaito dropped his chin to the bar and looked reproachfully at Saguru. "And you'd get a hell of a lot of publicity if you published it now, I'm sure. Perfect for an up-and-coming detective."

Saguru looked down at Kaito and raised his eyebrows . "I don't need to write a book about your real identity to become a famous detective," he said with a rather self-satisfied smirk. "I'm already well on the way to establishing myself without riding on your coattails—or paraglider, as the case may be."

"It's pretty much one and the same, in this case," said Kaito dryly. "Anyway, that hasn't stopped all sorts of rumors about how you know the Kid's identity."

"Yes," Saguru grinned. "I don't mind those rumors."

"I'll bet you don't." Kaito fiddled with his empty glass. "…Look, make sure you don't publish it until after Aoko dies too, okay? If I die before her—I don't want her to have to—"

"I know," Saguru said immediately. "I won't."

"Thanks," Kaito grunted.

Saguru glanced into his own empty glass for a few moments, then back at Kaito. "Speaking of the ladies, perhaps we ought to be getting back. They'll be wanting to go to dinner soon."

"Yeah." Kaito stood up and waved at the bartender. "They're at Aoko's place, right?"

"I believe so."

Kaito chuckled dryly. " You know, they're probably having the exact same conversation we were. Except Aoko's version of it all, not mine." The bartender came over and Kaito jerked a thumb at Saguru. "He's paying."

Saguru rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. "Of course I am."

"Glad we've agreed on that, at least."

"Hm." Saguru handed the bartender a few bills and shot a glance at Kaito. "Perhaps we'll have a chance to play a hand or two of poker before dinner."

"You're just trying to get on my good side," Kaito scowled. "You know nobody beats me at poker."

"I am," Saguru agreed as they walked to the door. "If I wanted to clean you out I'd have challenged you to a game of billiards."

"I'm pretty good at billiards, too."

"No you're not."

Saguru pushed the door open and gestured Kaito through. Kaito raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know, I almost miss the cane. It really suited you, somehow."

"I think I took a fancy to it too, actually. I've been thinking of just carrying it around anyway."

"Just for looks, right? 'Cause that 'I'm-an-invalid' bluff is only gonna work once, you know."

"Yes, yes," Saguru grinned. He gestured Kaito through the door again but Kaito didn't move, only leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, put his hands in his pockets, and smirked at Saguru.

"So will you be turning that recording device off now or later? Personally, I'd prefer later, if you have the battery life, at least until after poker. I want the record of your utter defeat to be in your 'accounts' as well."

Saguru had frozen. He started to open his mouth but Kaito cut him off with a raised hand.

"Don't bother. I searched your pockets. And I'm telling you you can keep it. I don't mind, as long as you stick to your end of the deal."

Saguru sighed, and put his own hand into his coat pocket. "That's a relief," he said, withdrawing a small silver recording device which he held up with a little smirk. "Because I was just thinking that this conversation would be the perfect way to end my book."

Owari—The End

…

_Woah! It's over! It's been almost six months. And now this is the longest complete piece I've ever written. Yay!_

_Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I had written part of it a long time ago, but it needed a lot of revision. And I wanted to add a bit with Aoko and Morgan talking, to get Aoko's side of things, because this story is called 'Kaito and Aoko's story,' after all But it got too long and redundant, so I had to cut her out. Sorry, Aoko! And then this has been a busy week for me. Like I said, I've just moved into the city, and I didn't have the time to write an ending I was happy with._

_Here's my last manga ref! Kaito reveals that he sucks at billiards (but is unbelievably lucky) in MK volume 2, ch. 7._

…

_Okay, now I'm going to write a little about the story of this story, which is probably only interesting to me, so please feel free to skip this. I just wanted to say it :) Please skip down to the last two words!_

_A lot of my other DC fanfics are short humor pieces, as you might have noticed, and that's how this one started—with Chapter 1 intending to be a stand-alone one-shot. 'Hey!' I was thinking, 'What if it was a few years after the manga, and Heiji knew Kaito's secret, and Aoko knew, and there was awkwardness?' So I wrote it and I thought it was kind of funny and that was that, but then it was as if Kaito and Aoko were mad at me for thinking that their situation was entirely humorous. I realized that if Aoko really knew Kaito's secret, they'd both be in a lot of pain. So that's how the second chapter came to be. After that I was like "'I miss Heiji! And what are Shinichi, Ran and Kazuha doing?' So chapter three (sans flashbacks) appeared. Then I just kept writing sort of haphazardly until I got to chapter 8, where Saguru appears, and then I stopped because I realized that I was stumbling blindly into a really convoluted plot and I had no idea where the story was going. This was all about four years ago._

_Every so often this story'd pop up in my mind, and somewhere along the way I decided that Aoko'd be the one to shoot Snake. That became one of the central points of the story. Another funny story about the design—since I had already established from my haphazard draft of the "High (Tea) Time" chapter, Saguru was in England and would be arriving late on the scene, it took me a while to figure out his place in the story. I love Saguru (as you can probably tell) but I also wanted to give Shinichi his due as Kaito's twin/enemy/rival/equal as well. So I was really trying to balance Saguru and Shinichi, as well as not forgetting about Heiji. So for a while I was thinking that maybe Saguru would have to die! After having a change of heart and helping Kid at the last minute, he'd be killed by the Black Org. It seemed like the fitting way to do it. And someone had to die, right? But I really didn't want to kill off dear old Saguru. I was very upset. I could see no way around it. And then I had a revelation! Instead of killing Saguru off during the story, I would give him a near-death accident beforehand! His injuries and frailty would drive home the looming threat of death and dismemberment to the characters and the readers, and then, thanks to him I could get away with not killing any of the protagonists! I was so happy. So that's why Saguru's so injured for most of this story—by pushing him off a skyscraper I actually saved his life ;) I don't know if that makes sense…it does in my head, at least._

_With the characters and the themes laid out, all that remained was the hard stuff—complicated plot intricacies. I planned out the whole thing in a word doc, reread that a few times, and finally finished it around last October. Then I was just editing the various chapters that I had started (I hopped around depending on what struck my fancy at the time) until finally last January, almost on a whim, I posted the first chapter as a way of forcing myself to actually write the thing and get it over with._

_This has actually been a difficult year for me, so to have this story, and the support of you lovely readers, has been really wonderful in my life. It's given me a distraction from my work and everything else, and a single nice review always made my day :) So this is certainly not the end of my fanfiction career—still got more Arrested shorts to write for you all!—and as I plan on being a writer of my own stories(not just fanfics!) I hope you'll see a lot more of my stuff in the future! Maybe even with my real name on it! But for now I love being Bellerophone Really, truly, thank you so much, everyone who's read this and especially everyone who's reviewed. _

_THANK YOU!_


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